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Obesity is now a global epidemic affecting more people worldwide than malnutrition - it's an epidemic caused by inactivity. Over the last 15 years scientists at the University of Exeter have studied activity levels in over a thousand children. They found that repeated health warnings have had little or no effect. Children today still aren't taking enough exercise to combat obesity. Professor Neil Armstrong of the Children's Health and Exercise Research Centre at the University of Exeter says "After the publication of the original data in 1990 the consequences of not promoting children's physical activity for the future health of the nation were clearly spelt out to policy makers. Little was done, and we are now experiencing the obesity epidemic which was predicted over a decade ago." "The answer lies in trying to encourage children to adopt more active lifestyles. Parents have a responsibility to give children the opportunity to be active but at the same time have taken activity out of their lives. Schools also have a role and must look at what they are doing to promote and maintain children's activity levels. The community must also take up the challenge by providing a safe environment to encourage activity." Almost half of adolescent girls and a third of the boys studied by Professor Armstrong and his team didn't even take ten minutes of sustained exercise in three days of monitoring. Boys are generally more active than girls, but the frequency and intensity of activity of both sexes decreases with age, with a marked reduction during teen years, particularly in girls. Department of Health figures* show that in the UK 10% of 6 year olds could be classified as suffering from obesity. Despite fears about junk food diets, most children aren't taking on more calories than they used to. They just aren't doing enough to burn off those calories. Children who start life obese are statistically far more likely to become obese adults, and to fall victim to a range of diseases including coronary heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure. In the US four national surveys* show that between 1980 -1994 obesity in adolescents trebled in adolescents and doubled in children. Notes to Editors * Department of Health, National Diet and Nutrition Survey 2000 * Figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention TO VIEW THE VIDEO click here.
Contact Rachel Hoad-Robson T: 01392 262062 E: Rachel.Hoad-Robson@exeter.ac.uk