Fat kids

From http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/3250694.stm


Scots youth among world's fattest

Scottish youngsters are among the fattest in the developed world,
according to new figures.

Italy and Malta are the only countries with a higher number of
overweight children, an NHS Scotland report reveals.

One in five 12-year-olds in Scotland are clinically obese - double the
previous estimate - the figures show.

This compares with England and Wales and America, where one in seven
15-year-olds are obese, the Scottish Executive's health watchdog found.

Obesity problem

The report also reveals that one in 10 Scots children aged 12 are
classed as severely obese and one in three are overweight.

This compares with France and Sweden, where only 18% are overweight
and Germany, where the figure is 15%.

In the Netherlands 13% of children are overweight and in Slovakia the
figure is 10%, according to the research.

The figures reveal a far worse obesity problem than was indicated in a
previous study, which found just one in 10 Scots primary school pupils
to be obese.

The Clinical Outcome Indicators report by NHS Quality Improvement
Scotland, focuses on obesity rates in children of secondary school age.

The chief medical officer for Scotland said that the obesity epidemic
was down to life choices.

Dr Mac Armstrong said: "The report highlights serious problems. It's
not so much a wake-up call as an alarm bell which every single one of
us should heed.

"Issues like obesity and smoking during pregnancy are fundamentally
about people and the choices they make as individuals and parents.

"We can only reduce the levels of obesity if people make the choices
that promote their own health."

The Scottish Executive launched a multi-million pound healthy eating
campaign in January to try to tackle the obesity epidemic.

But less than 1% of Scots have contacted the healthy living helpline
in the nine months following its launch.