Time bomb, crisis, epidemic - however you choose to phrase it, it's hardto deny the UK has a problem with obesity, especially amongchildren.
According to the Department of Health, more than 16.6 per cent of boysand 16.7 per cent of girls aged two to 10 in England were obese in 2005- a rise from 9.6 per cent and 10.3 per cent respectively in 1995.
As a result schools are now implementing Government policies such asweight and height checks, adopting healthy eating, and encouragingpupils to take more exercise.
But one academic has released a paper raising questions over somecommonly-held ideas about obesity and the policies used to fight the"epidemic".
Counter-productive policies
Among the more radical notions in the paper Obesity and Public Policy:Thinking Clearly and Treading Carefully, by Dr Michael Gard is the ideathat some anti-obesity policies could be counter-productive (ChildrenNow, 25-31 July).
He argues: "The over-reaching anti-obesity agenda sows the seeds of itsown demise as people come to resent the intrusive interventions ofhealth authorities."
Gard goes on to suggest children forced into physical activity could endup viewing exercise as punishment or medicine.
Health organisations such as the British Medical Association (BMA) arguethat healthy eating and regular exercise should be presented in a waywhich is enjoyable and interesting to children. "The chances are ifchildren find something they like doing they will continue to exercise,"a spokesman explains. "The same applies to healthy eating, it's gettingchildren to have different things that they will like to eat."
However, Gard's argument takes on more significance when considering thecase of two mums at a Rotherham school.
Appalled by Rawmarsh Comprehensive's decision to adopt a healthy eatingpolicy, mums Julie Critchlow and Sam Walker began taking pupils' ordersfor chips, pies, fizzy drinks and burgers and pushing the forbiddenfoods through the school railings. The pair claimed pupils, turned offby the "rubbish" on the new healthy menu, were starving. Eventually theschool's headmaster ordered them to stop, but the backlash againsthealthy school meals has continued. Official figures have shown a 20 percent drop in the take up of school meals since celebrity chef JamieOliver began his campaigning.
A spokesman for the Department of Health says: "The primaryresponsibility for a child leading a healthy life rests with parents andcarers. However, the public expects Government to help."
Gard makes some compelling arguments around the issue of weight,pointing out that the method for measuring "ideal weight" - the BodyMass Index (BMI) - is flawed as it does not take into accountdifferences in muscle and bone mass and does not make allowances forvariation in children's development.
More radically, Gard argues that no study in the history of medicalscience has ever established a causal link between childhood weight andadult ill-health or premature death.
So could assertions about increases in obesity related diseases, andtalk about this being the first generation of children likely to diebefore their parents, be incorrect?
Linking obesity and bad health
The BMA doesn't believe so and its spokesman says there is evidence thatif a child continues to be obese into adulthood they are at a greaterrisk of cancer, heart disease and stroke.
A spokesman for the Department of Health also argues obese children aremore likely to become obese adults, and face an increased risk ofdeveloping type 2 diabetes in childhood, as well as psychological andsocial problems.
But Gard says: "Focusing on body weight per se is a mistake. We shouldnever lose sight of the fact that Western populations are, by and large,as healthy as they have ever been." He continues: "I am certainly notadvocating against spontaneous, fun physical activity for children.
"My point is simply that those who think mandating a certain amount ofschool physical activity per week or per day will do anything abouthealth and body weight are mistaken."
Gard also argues caution in implementing policies such as inspectingchildren's lunch boxes, banning certain types of food, mandatoryweighing and measuring of children, fitness testing and remedialphysical activity for children who are seen to have weight or fitnessproblems.
Firstly, he says, the potential for negligence claims from children whohave been injured or developed eating disorders is unfair on teachers,who should not be expected to "solve all of society's ills".
"Secondly, many of these policies have been tried and discarded in someparts of the world at the same time as they are being taken up inothers," he says. "There does seem to be a case for deliveringhigh-quality nutrition, health and physical activity programmes inschools, however, the most important issue is how such initiatives areimplemented."
OBESITY FACTS
- The British Medical Association recently rejected a call for obesityin under-12s to be considered parental neglect
- Parents no longer need to be approached to give permission for theirchildren to be weighed and measured at school although they can chooseto opt out
- A recent study funded by the Wellcome Trust has identified the mostclear genetic link yet to obesity in the general population. People withtwo copies of a particular gene variant have a 70 per cent higher riskof being obese than those with no copies.
