Child obesity

Parenting |

There’s food for thought over tackling childhood obesity.It’s feared youngsters are being bullied because of programmes aimed at encouraging them to shed the fat. Parentline Plus says initiatives like measuring and weighing pupils in class is putting them at risk of being singled out and made fun of.

The charity fears that schemes including the weighing and measuring of children in class, in some cases being incorporated into numeracy lessons, will put children at risk of being singled out and made fun of, said spokeswoman Sue Ormesher.

According to Parentline Plus, obesity is now considered to be a global epidemic and excess body weight is currently the most common childhood disorder in Europe. The Government has tried to address the issue but it has recently been revealed that its forty two million pound scheme has failed.

In an attempt to make fresh food more appealing, a free piece of fruit or veg has been handed out daily to millions of school children. But researchers have revealed that getting the youngsters to eat it has been difficult.

“It is depressing,” said Rob Williams, chief-executive of Eleven Million, the organisation of the Children’s Commissioner.

However, he added that children are being “bombarded” with different advertising messages and they are unsure of what is good or bad for them. “Although the study didn’t work it takes us forward. We’ve done studies that show that children really are very confused,” he added.

If you are a parent or carer and would like more information and/or support you can call Parentline Plus’ 24-hour free, confidential Parentline on 0808 800 2222, or go to the website parentlineplus.org.uk

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