The Isle of Wight’s public health director has announced a crackdown on children’s obesity and dubbed it “one of the most significant public health challenges we have as a society”. New figures have revealed that nearly 1 in 4 children in reception were overweight or obese on the Isle of Wight in 2022/23 but the figure rose to 1 in 3 for Year 6 pupils. In his annual report, ‘Let’s not wait — Enabling the Isle of Wight’s children to be a healthy weight’, Simon Bryant has shifted his focus to halt the worsening trend of rising levels of childhood overweight and obesity. He is calling for health services to make fighting childhood obesity a key priority as the percentage of overweight or obese children is “now being accepted as normal.” His report was not highlighting concerns about how people look, Mr Bryant said, but the impact it has on health. The rising trend can be reversed, he said, to reduce the risk for future generations. If the Island “fails to act now”, Mr Bryant said, the predicted levels of childhood obesity are predicted to increase by 35% in Reception years and then 32.4% of Year 6 pupils by 2039 — although it is likely to be even higher, the council has said. The authority has highlighted studies which show obese children and young people are 5 times more likely to be obese in adulthood than those who were not obese as children. Speaking at the council’s cabinet meeting last week, Mr Bryant said he wanted to highlight the issue so they could act together with colleagues across the Island, as the authority could not do it alone. He said:
“How we live, the way we live and the behaviour we undertake means it is a lot harder for us to be a healthier weight.”
The council will be writing to key leaders and with them develop an action plan to tackle the problem. The authority will also create an ‘Isle of Wight Healthy Weight approach’, which will include lessons on healthy living; providing nutritious and varied free school meals for some children; and environments that promote physical activity.
Kids growing up in the new houses in Shalfleet won’t be able to go anywhere due to the lack of footpaths on the main road, I bet most of the obese kids are in the rural areas. ( Also chav areas too)
Is this a job for the council to be doing??…isn’t this parental responsibility, looking after your own child’s health.
Teach their parents how to cook for a start. They and their kids are mainly living on ultra-processed crap like pizza, chicken nuggets, and chips. Real food is healthier, cheaper, and tastier. The parents of fat kids should be forced to learn how to cook and shop for healthy food. Ultra-processed food should have 100% tax on top of sale price. Shops that include more than two ultra-processed food items should be taxed £10 for each extra item. They will thank us for it in the long run because they will be eating better food and have much improved health outcomes.
It’s a societal problem, and ultra-processed foods are largely only consumed by, and marketed to, the poor. Poverty industry foods makes an absolute fortune in profit, far more than raw food industry. Cheaper ingredients with packers and addictive additives to make them taste ok. Real food isn’t cheaper, when you consider a large bag of say, chips, can be bought in places like Iceland for 2 quid and feed an entire family twice. Trouble is, if they were taxed beyond the poor’s pockets they couldn’t afford to eat and children would go hungry. Yes, they’d certainly lose weight but it’s not ideal for learning or energy. Certainly needs regulation though.
Real food is much cheaper and that is what my family have always eaten. A 25 kg sack of potatoes can be bought for less than £12 and they will be eaten every day. Oats cost very little and that is all you need for breakfast with some milk. Buy some large packs of mince, a few cheap chickens (whole birds and no waste), carrots, onions, and a few cabbages. Then all you need is some milk, tea, cheese, real bread, and whatever seasonal fruit/veg is good value. You can feed a family of four for about £40 to £50 a week. Fill your trolley with ultra-processed crap and you will spend 3-4 (or more) times that amount.
Yes quite right..also..did you see that report last month about the humble carrot ? Apparently just one portion per week reducing the risk of cancer by 10%.. and if you eat them five times a week.. by 20%…there is every reason to eat plenty of vegetables cheap and nutritional.. if you care about your kids.. make a McDonald’s once a year thing.
I agree with both you and ‘karen’
‘real food’ is better and can be cheaper, if you can and want to cook…
but low quality ‘budget’ semi-prepared food (like chips, cheap pizzas, cheap sausages) are both easier and cheaper if you account for the time, energy & hassle of cooking ‘properly’
as as karen pointed out. “Poverty industry foods makes an absolute fortune in profit”..
2 problems,..
1. kids (who will become parents) haven’t been taught to cook at school for many years..and so many can’t or won’t
2. The Tory’s won’t change that significantly, or introduce legislation (taxes) on cheap / junk food as they are totally committed to maximising the proffit to be made from the ‘non rich’
Just look at the parents, parents who are incapable of providing a healthy diet and live on takeaways and instant meals, i was on the bus last week going to Newport and a “devoted father”, in the regulation grey trackies, gave his very young daughter, under 5, a whole packet of pringles which she finished by the time we got there so hardly surprising.
Probably because that’s what he was raised on too. Poverty begets poverty so no-one learns there are different alternatives and if they did, they couldn’t afford them.
How about teaching kids something useful in school like how to cook real food, instead of leaving them to believe that all food comes from McDonald’s, KFC and Burger King. They can then go home and teach their own parents to cook too.
Good idea. Unfortunately not taught until age 14 and then a subject choice, non curricular. Still unlikely to be able to afford the raw ingredients, mind.
One big mac costs the best part of £5. For that you can buy a kilo bag of sprouts, a kilo bag of carrots, two whole chicken fillets and a 2.5 kilo bag of potatoes. If they can afford McDonald’s they can afford proper food which would feed a family, not just one person. Trouble is, they are simply not interested in feeding their offspring proper, nutritious food.
Up to and including Year 9, all secondary school do have cookery lessons.
But as the Government only pay us just over £20 p.w for each child, and only pay us four hundred pounds a week in benefits, ( Yes I know its more if you have extra children or squiffy little ones), along with free rent and free council tax, how the heck do you expect us to pay for our cigs, alcohol, ganga, nights out, Festival tickets, hols, latest phone and largest TV’s AND run our gas guzzling Beemer?
Yes I know our children all get free school meals as well, but we have to spend our benefits on them at the weekends.
So lessons in cookery out to be replaced with lessons in ‘using’ contraception if you are poor to prevent inflicting your misery on the next generation.
Is Simon Bryant worried about his job? Hearing a lot from him this week, but nothing last week when St Mary’s was overstretched. Talking of St Mary’s, quite a lot of staff are overweight and obese, perhaps he should aim his comments closer to his office and staff
Regulate the crap food industry.
Some of the people that work for the council could do with loosing some weight
If the big junk food chains stopped enticing children with cheap toys that they give away with their unhealthy food then children would be a lot healthier.
Spot on, and a lot less junk toys would be made, reducing future landfill and plastic pollution, and CO2 emissions. The junk food industry has a lot to answer for. Those in charge need to take note.
Except it isn’t children that are going in buying the food is it? It’s their idiot parents.
Starts with the lazy fat parents doesn’t it.wasting your time there!
And as if we need too OBEY our utterly corrupt useless big brother council on any subject tbf
So funding for scouts, brownies, youth clubs and after school activities is at an all time low. Parks and playgrounds are not maintained and in many causes are dangerous to use combined with a sense of increasing lawlessness in the young on the island (blame lack of parenting, police presence, role models, community in general) mainly due to a lack of anything to occupy them and you end up with a lot of children being kept indoors.
If the council want to “fight childhood obesity” then employ some park security and maintenance staff to put on games after school, open the many town halls we have as safe spaces for young people to hang out after school, provide “tuck shops” with healthy snacks and water. Basically, do better.
Go further by pulling any fat kids out of class and taking them to fat camp. Council could turn Robin Hill into a childhood obesity elimination centre. Make the kids exercise for 2 hours each day, feed them proper food, and give them cookery lessons. Assess them every day and if they look like they are getting fat, drag their parents to the fat camp every day. Maybe even put them on hamster wheels so they can generate power while they are at it. Deny healthcare to anyone who is obese, alcohol-dependent, or a smoker. This is the way forward. This country needs real solutions. Vote Reform.
What ? Vote for the fascists ? No thanks..
But will you be telling the truth to parents, such as, stop feeding your kids never ending junk takeaway food, do parents of fat children even know how to spell walking or exercise, there are simple answers to these problems but knowing the council they will spend a fortune on colourful brochures that will be in nexts weeks recycling.
Close down McDonald’s
There are too many fast food places on the Island nowdays!