Call for early action to tackle ‘alarming' rise of childhood obesity
They said that the first 1,000 days of life – from pregnancy through to a child's second birthday – are 'critical to development and health across the life-course' as they called for early action to prevent obesity in children.
These interventions could include: helping women to begin pregnancy at a healthy weight; encouraging breastfeeding, which is linked with a reduced risk of childhood obesity and avoiding 'rapid catch-up growth' in low birth weight babies.
'The overall goal should be to establish and maintain a healthy body-weight trajectory that avoids excess gain early in life,' experts from the UK Academy of Medical Sciences and the Italian National Academy of Sciences said.
In the UK, 1.3 million children are obese and a further 2.3 million are overweight, the authors said.
The authors highlight how single interventions 'such as diet or physical activity, in single settings' rarely work without consideration of wider factors which may contribute to childhood obesity.
The report says that portraying obesity as a 'character flaw' leads to stigmatisation which can be counterproductive and may increase the risk of unhealthy diet and lifestyle, but positive messages about the benefits of maintaining a healthy weight may work better.
'Childhood obesity has become an urgent public health challenge that is both affecting lives today and storing up problems for the future,' the report states.
According to the latest National Childhood Measurement Programme figures, one in ten (9.6%) children in England are obese when they begin their schooling.
And 22.1% of 10 and 11-year-olds in Year 6 are obese.
Obesity is higher in boys than girls, the figures show.
And those living in poorer neighbourhoods are more likely to be obese compared to those in the wealthiest.
The authors of the new report highlight how levels of obesity in deprived areas is creating a 'vicious cycle' because obesity is linked to reduced job opportunities which in turn is a risk factor for weight gain.
The new report comes as the Government prepares to launch it's 10 year plan for health, which has a focus on preventing ill health from occurring in the first place.
Under new proposals set out in the plan retailers could be made to set targets to increase their sales of less fattening products.
But the authors of the new report said that 'robust' regulation of the food industry is needed rather than relying on voluntary agreements, with evidence supporting taxation of unhealthy products and potential subsidies for healthier options.
'The first 1,000 days, including time in the womb, represent an important window of opportunity to set children on a healthy trajectory for life,' said Professor Susan Ozanne, co-chair of the report.
'Once obesity is established, it becomes increasingly harder to reverse.
'This isn't about individual willpower or blaming and shaming – it's about creating an environment for parents, carers and their children that supports healthy development from the very beginning.'
Professor Rosalind Smyth, clinical vice-president at the Academy of Medical Sciences, added: 'When we address health inequalities in the earliest years, we're not just improving individual outcomes – we're building the foundations for a healthier, more productive society.
'The evidence reinforces that prevention, which requires a cross-sectoral approach, must be co-ordinated across all government departments.'
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: 'Good nutrition is essential to giving babies the best start in life and this government has set a bold ambition to raise the healthiest generation of children ever.
'As part of our 10 Year Health Plan, food retailers and manufacturers will 'make the healthy choice the easy choice' in a world-first partnership between government and industry to tackle the obesity epidemic and ease pressure on the NHS.
'We have also set out plans to tackle widening health inequalities through fundamental reforms to our health system – putting an end to a postcode lottery of care, and we have allocated an extra £57 million for Start for Life services, helping expectant and new mothers with their infants.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Rhyl Journal
3 hours ago
- Rhyl Journal
Chris Packham backs call for delayed report into autistic deaths to be published
Signatories including broadcaster Chris Packham – who has spoken about being autistic – demanded the long-awaited report be published as soon as Parliament returns from its summer break. He is among campaigners who have written to Health Secretary Wes Streeting to say the country is 'standing by year after year while vulnerable people die'. The latest Learning from lives and deaths report (LeDeR) – expected to show data for 2023 – was due to be published around November last year but it is understood it has been held up over 'practical data issues'. The LeDeR programme was established in 2015 in an effort to review the deaths of people with a learning disability and autistic people in England. Annual reports are aimed at summarising their lives and deaths with the aim of learning from what happened, improving care, reducing health inequalities and preventing people with a learning disability and autistic people from early deaths. In the letter to Mr Streeting, signed by various groups including charities Autism Action and Mencap as well as bereaved families, the delay to the latest report was branded 'unacceptable'. They said: 'It took at least 17 years for the Government to establish this vital initiative after the 1998 finding that people with learning disabilities were 58 times more likely to die before the age of 50 than the general population. 'Although it was established to 'get to the bottom of why people with learning disabilities typically die much earlier than average, and to inform a strategy to reduce this inequality,' 10 years later – too many people are still dying premature, preventable deaths. 'In response, the Government is showing a shocking lack of urgency and has let the only discernible tool to understand and act on these deaths be caught up in delay and bureaucracy.' The most recent report, which showed data for 2022, confirmed care and outcomes for people with learning disabilities are still often below acceptable standards compared with the general population. Of the 2,054 adults with a learning disability who died that year and had a completed recorded underlying cause of death, 853 (42%) had deaths classified as avoidable. This was down on the 2021 figure of 50% of avoidable deaths among adults with a learning disability, but was 'significantly higher' than the percentage for the general population across Great Britain, which was 22.8% in 2020 – the latest data available at that time. Last month, the parents of an autistic teenager who died after being prescribed medication against his and his parents' wishes hailed the publication of guidance they hope will safeguard others as a 'significant milestone'. A report in 2020 found 18-year-old Oliver McGowan's death four years earlier at Southmead Hospital in Bristol was 'potentially avoidable'. He died in 2016 after being given the antipsychotic Olanzapine and contracting neuroleptic malignant syndrome (NMS) – a rare side-effect of the drug. An independent review later found that the fit and healthy teenager's death was 'potentially avoidable' and his parents, Paula and Tom McGowan, said their son died 'as a result of the combined ignorance and arrogance of doctors' who treated him. In June, his parents – who have campaigned since his death for improvements in the system – welcomed the publication of new guidance aimed at ensuring safer, more personalised care for people with a learning disability and autistic people. Learning disability charity Mencap described the delay to the latest LeDeR report as 'disappointing and worrying', and said the Government must 'not shy away from the uncomfortable truth that for many years the healthcare system has failed people who are already marginalised in so many ways'. Autism Action chief executive Tom Purser accused the Government of 'systemically devaluing the lives of autistic people and those with learning disabilities' by delaying the long-awaited annual report and giving campaigners and families 'empty reassurances'. He added: 'There must be systemic changes in the way this information is collected, recorded, shared and acted upon – and it needs to be accountable and written into law. We are calling on this data to be published annually and independently of the Government and the NHS. 'Without these changes the Government has nothing to learn from and more vulnerable lives are at stake.' A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: 'We inherited a situation where the care of people with a learning disability and autistic people was not good enough and we recently published a code of practice on training to make sure staff have the right knowledge and skills to provide safe and informed care. 'We are committed to improving care for people with a learning disability and autistic people. The Learning from Lives and Deaths report will help identify key improvements needed to tackle health disparities and prevent avoidable deaths.'
South Wales Guardian
3 hours ago
- South Wales Guardian
Chris Packham backs call for delayed report into autistic deaths to be published
Signatories including broadcaster Chris Packham – who has spoken about being autistic – demanded the long-awaited report be published as soon as Parliament returns from its summer break. He is among campaigners who have written to Health Secretary Wes Streeting to say the country is 'standing by year after year while vulnerable people die'. The latest Learning from lives and deaths report (LeDeR) – expected to show data for 2023 – was due to be published around November last year but it is understood it has been held up over 'practical data issues'. The LeDeR programme was established in 2015 in an effort to review the deaths of people with a learning disability and autistic people in England. Annual reports are aimed at summarising their lives and deaths with the aim of learning from what happened, improving care, reducing health inequalities and preventing people with a learning disability and autistic people from early deaths. In the letter to Mr Streeting, signed by various groups including charities Autism Action and Mencap as well as bereaved families, the delay to the latest report was branded 'unacceptable'. They said: 'It took at least 17 years for the Government to establish this vital initiative after the 1998 finding that people with learning disabilities were 58 times more likely to die before the age of 50 than the general population. 'Although it was established to 'get to the bottom of why people with learning disabilities typically die much earlier than average, and to inform a strategy to reduce this inequality,' 10 years later – too many people are still dying premature, preventable deaths. 'In response, the Government is showing a shocking lack of urgency and has let the only discernible tool to understand and act on these deaths be caught up in delay and bureaucracy.' The most recent report, which showed data for 2022, confirmed care and outcomes for people with learning disabilities are still often below acceptable standards compared with the general population. Of the 2,054 adults with a learning disability who died that year and had a completed recorded underlying cause of death, 853 (42%) had deaths classified as avoidable. This was down on the 2021 figure of 50% of avoidable deaths among adults with a learning disability, but was 'significantly higher' than the percentage for the general population across Great Britain, which was 22.8% in 2020 – the latest data available at that time. Last month, the parents of an autistic teenager who died after being prescribed medication against his and his parents' wishes hailed the publication of guidance they hope will safeguard others as a 'significant milestone'. A report in 2020 found 18-year-old Oliver McGowan's death four years earlier at Southmead Hospital in Bristol was 'potentially avoidable'. He died in 2016 after being given the antipsychotic Olanzapine and contracting neuroleptic malignant syndrome (NMS) – a rare side-effect of the drug. An independent review later found that the fit and healthy teenager's death was 'potentially avoidable' and his parents, Paula and Tom McGowan, said their son died 'as a result of the combined ignorance and arrogance of doctors' who treated him. In June, his parents – who have campaigned since his death for improvements in the system – welcomed the publication of new guidance aimed at ensuring safer, more personalised care for people with a learning disability and autistic people. Learning disability charity Mencap described the delay to the latest LeDeR report as 'disappointing and worrying', and said the Government must 'not shy away from the uncomfortable truth that for many years the healthcare system has failed people who are already marginalised in so many ways'. Autism Action chief executive Tom Purser accused the Government of 'systemically devaluing the lives of autistic people and those with learning disabilities' by delaying the long-awaited annual report and giving campaigners and families 'empty reassurances'. He added: 'There must be systemic changes in the way this information is collected, recorded, shared and acted upon – and it needs to be accountable and written into law. We are calling on this data to be published annually and independently of the Government and the NHS. 'Without these changes the Government has nothing to learn from and more vulnerable lives are at stake.' A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: 'We inherited a situation where the care of people with a learning disability and autistic people was not good enough and we recently published a code of practice on training to make sure staff have the right knowledge and skills to provide safe and informed care. 'We are committed to improving care for people with a learning disability and autistic people. The Learning from Lives and Deaths report will help identify key improvements needed to tackle health disparities and prevent avoidable deaths.'
Leader Live
3 hours ago
- Leader Live
Chris Packham backs call for delayed report into autistic deaths to be published
Signatories including broadcaster Chris Packham – who has spoken about being autistic – demanded the long-awaited report be published as soon as Parliament returns from its summer break. He is among campaigners who have written to Health Secretary Wes Streeting to say the country is 'standing by year after year while vulnerable people die'. The latest Learning from lives and deaths report (LeDeR) – expected to show data for 2023 – was due to be published around November last year but it is understood it has been held up over 'practical data issues'. The LeDeR programme was established in 2015 in an effort to review the deaths of people with a learning disability and autistic people in England. Annual reports are aimed at summarising their lives and deaths with the aim of learning from what happened, improving care, reducing health inequalities and preventing people with a learning disability and autistic people from early deaths. In the letter to Mr Streeting, signed by various groups including charities Autism Action and Mencap as well as bereaved families, the delay to the latest report was branded 'unacceptable'. They said: 'It took at least 17 years for the Government to establish this vital initiative after the 1998 finding that people with learning disabilities were 58 times more likely to die before the age of 50 than the general population. 'Although it was established to 'get to the bottom of why people with learning disabilities typically die much earlier than average, and to inform a strategy to reduce this inequality,' 10 years later – too many people are still dying premature, preventable deaths. 'In response, the Government is showing a shocking lack of urgency and has let the only discernible tool to understand and act on these deaths be caught up in delay and bureaucracy.' The most recent report, which showed data for 2022, confirmed care and outcomes for people with learning disabilities are still often below acceptable standards compared with the general population. Of the 2,054 adults with a learning disability who died that year and had a completed recorded underlying cause of death, 853 (42%) had deaths classified as avoidable. This was down on the 2021 figure of 50% of avoidable deaths among adults with a learning disability, but was 'significantly higher' than the percentage for the general population across Great Britain, which was 22.8% in 2020 – the latest data available at that time. Last month, the parents of an autistic teenager who died after being prescribed medication against his and his parents' wishes hailed the publication of guidance they hope will safeguard others as a 'significant milestone'. A report in 2020 found 18-year-old Oliver McGowan's death four years earlier at Southmead Hospital in Bristol was 'potentially avoidable'. He died in 2016 after being given the antipsychotic Olanzapine and contracting neuroleptic malignant syndrome (NMS) – a rare side-effect of the drug. An independent review later found that the fit and healthy teenager's death was 'potentially avoidable' and his parents, Paula and Tom McGowan, said their son died 'as a result of the combined ignorance and arrogance of doctors' who treated him. In June, his parents – who have campaigned since his death for improvements in the system – welcomed the publication of new guidance aimed at ensuring safer, more personalised care for people with a learning disability and autistic people. Learning disability charity Mencap described the delay to the latest LeDeR report as 'disappointing and worrying', and said the Government must 'not shy away from the uncomfortable truth that for many years the healthcare system has failed people who are already marginalised in so many ways'. Autism Action chief executive Tom Purser accused the Government of 'systemically devaluing the lives of autistic people and those with learning disabilities' by delaying the long-awaited annual report and giving campaigners and families 'empty reassurances'. He added: 'There must be systemic changes in the way this information is collected, recorded, shared and acted upon – and it needs to be accountable and written into law. We are calling on this data to be published annually and independently of the Government and the NHS. 'Without these changes the Government has nothing to learn from and more vulnerable lives are at stake.' A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: 'We inherited a situation where the care of people with a learning disability and autistic people was not good enough and we recently published a code of practice on training to make sure staff have the right knowledge and skills to provide safe and informed care. 'We are committed to improving care for people with a learning disability and autistic people. The Learning from Lives and Deaths report will help identify key improvements needed to tackle health disparities and prevent avoidable deaths.'
