Obesity: Children

With a quarter of UK under 5's deemed overweight or obese and a third of 10-11 year olds classed as overweight, it shouldn't come as a shock to learn that obesity is set to overtake smoking as the biggest cause of cancer - or should it?

As a nation who refers to weighing more than our ideal body weight as a 'common' and some what 'normal' condition, we're often guilty of overlooking the health risks associated with an accumulation of excess body fat and as a result, fail to acknowledge the detrimental impact obesity - a serious and potentially life threatening medical condition - can have on the next generation.

Although manufacturers are partly to blame for the creation of convenience foods and sugar fuelled treats, we, as parents, have a responsibility to ensure that our children remain as healthy as possible on both a physical and psychological level in order to prevent them from falling victim to a medical condition that is growing increasingly more common throughout the UK - a medical crisis that will continue to deteriorate if our nation fails to address the seriousness surrounding it.

As a health and nutrition professional, I am truly saddened to see headlines such as 'sweets a slow poison to kids' not only because of the realism of the obesity crisis we face, but because despite the implications obesity is renowned for, we continue to put our children's - and our children's future children - health and life at risk by feeding them the wrong food and drink sources.

I understand that healthier alternatives may appear to be more expensive and time consuming in comparison to energy dense junk food, and I understand that kids will be kids, but please take a step back and think about the short and long-term health effects associated with the food that you chose to feed your children. Why? Because as drastic as it may sound, opting for the wrong dietary options has the ability to slowly poison your children via fat and sugar and as a result, can not only lead to obesity, but a multitude of potentially life threatening health conditions such as cancer, diabetes and heart disease to name but a very few.

Don't allow your children to resemble the alarming statistics that reflect our country's obesity crisis and most importantly, don't allow your children's children to grow up convinced that it's ok to be overweight. We have the opportunity to ensure a healthy future for all generations. Let's take it.