Obese pupils' parents to get warning letters

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Parents of clinically obese five-year-olds will be sent warning letters under a new government scheme.

The notifications will be part of a tough new stance to tackle rising levels of obesity, following a national initiative to weigh all children in schools.

Ministers including Health Secretary Alan Johnson are preparing to face accusations of stigmatising fat children over the plan but believe it is in the children's best interest if a problem is formally brought to the attention of their parents.

The Government has made children the focus of its plans to tackle obesity amid fears that the problem is growing into an epidemic.

Regular weighing of primary school children in England and Wales was reintroduced two years ago to identify regional and national trends.

According to the most recent statistics, more than 25 per cent of preschool children are now overweight.

The number of obese children in Britain has doubled since 1982.

More than 80 per cent of obese 10- to 14-year-olds remain obese into adulthood.

A recent government report warned that obesity could affect more than half the population by 2050, costing the economy more than £45 billion.

The report, Tackling Obesities: Future Choices, predicted that just 10 per cent of men and 15 per cent of women were expected to be of a "healthy" weight by 2050 if current trends continue.

It also concluded that humans had not adapted to cheap high-energy foods and labour-saving devices.

A study by the Commons health select committee went one step further and suggested that a generation of children would die before their parents unless urgent action was taken.

A Department of Health spokesman said: "The programme is a vital part of engaging with children and families about healthy lifestyles and weight issues.

"We need to take this farther and help parents to understand the importance of healthy weight for their family."

The move could go some way to appeasing an influential charity which last week accused the Government of shying away from tough targets on obesity.

The British Heart Foundation said ministers had set "soft, distant goals".

Peter Hollins, chief executive of the charity, said: "We want to see changes by 2010. The Prime Minister needs to be braver than his predecessor and show the country he has the bottle to rein in the pervasive influence of the food industry over our children's eating habits."

 

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