The media is reporting today that obesity is now hitting epidemic levels and that health leaders are calling for an emergency taskforce to be set up to tackle childhood obesity in England.

The BBC reports:

In an open letter to the chief medical officer for England, Prof Dame Sally Davies, they say “an entire generation is being destroyed by a diet of junk food and sugary drinks”.

They want an action group, made up of doctors, nurses, dieticians, dentists and schools, to be set up urgently.

Currently, around one in three children under 15 are overweight or obese.

The Royal College of General Practitioners and eleven other organisations signed the letter, which has been timed to coincide with the start of the new school year.

In it, health leaders call for better co-ordination of obesity treatment services so that all children can be encouraged to eat healthily from a young age.

They also call for a raft of other measures, including:

• increased support for the National Child Measurement Programme
• improved investment in IT programmes for weight management
• more training in malnutrition and obesity for GPs and other health professionals
• outreach projects to educate families about the dangers of obesity

The letter’s signatories recommend setting up a national Child Obesity Action Group to tackle the problem.

‘Lifetime of sickness’

Dr Rachel Pryke, clinical lead for nutrition at the RCGP, said a consistent national approach to treating obesity was needed.

“The nutritional patterns laid out in early years can define a child’s health for life and the stark fact is that overweight children are being set up for a lifetime of sickness and health problems.

“As parents and health professionals, we need to take responsibility and ensure that every child has a healthy and varied diet and regular exercise.

She added: “Many schools are rising to the challenge and doing what they can in terms of education and outreach.

“Public Health England are already carrying out children measurement schemes and weight-prevention initiatives are widespread – but child obesity treatment provision is a postcode lottery with many areas having limited or no child obesity treatment services at all.

Dr Pryke said simply collating those figures was not enough and that a consistent response to these statistics was needed, right across the country.

Doctors leaders have also previously suggested banning adverts for fast food and introducing a tax on sugary drinks.

Generation in denial

Dr Nigel Mathers, a GP in Sheffield and a member of the RCGP, said there was a culture of denial among many of his patients.

“Many parents don’t recognise their children are obese because many of them are obese themselves.

“Obesity is the new normal and we need a unified approach to manage it.”

GPs say they are dealing with a generation of patients who may die before their parents.

Also, because few people associate weight with cancer, children are growing up with a range of health problems that could develop into serious lifelong illnesses, such as Type 2 diabetes.