Childhood Obesity Rates Rapidly Increasing

In the UK, shocking statistics on childhood obesity in one of the major cities were published. More than 40% of children have excess weight, but some cases seem intimidating.

Thus, there is a 10-year-old schoolgirl, who weighs nearly 140 kg, and six other children in this age group weighing over 125 kg. More than 50 children under the age of 11 weigh more then 100 kg, and it’s only in the part of the country where “the record holder” lives, i.e. Birmingham and its suburbs. The girl’s body mass index is 70, that is 40 points more than normal.

According to doctors, obesity is observed almost in 25% of children today, and almost 40% of young Britons face the problem of overweight. Some experts believe that the nation is on the verge of a catastrophe, as childhood obesity almost always guarantees diabetes, osteoarthritis, sleep apnea, cancer, cardiovascular and liver disease in adult life.

Birmingham councillor Steve Bedser says the obesity statistics has become a reality for every fourth child, and it is the worst thing about their city. From the very beginning it was clear that the fight against childhood obesity is their main priority. He adds it is crisis on a national scale, and an inability to cope with this time bomb is extremely dangerous – negative consequences of this phenomenon will affect the entire society.

Only 59.4% of the schoolchildren showed healthy weight, and 2.1% showed underweight. 38.5% were categorized as overweight or obese.