Quarter of toddlers overweight or obese

An Institute for Child Health study of 14,000 children born 2000 - 2002 found 18 per cent were overweight and five per cent obese at the age of three.  Tim Cole, one of the researchers, said: “It’s extremely important and indeed distinctly worrying that children as young as this are as fat as they are and getting fatter.  Being fat now, these children are more likely to be fat later.  There are now young adults and, increasingly adolescents and even children with type II diabetes.  These people are going to require medical input for the rest of their lives.”  The research also found that those from poorer areas were more likely to be overweight or obese than those from better off backgrounds.  Among ethnic groups, Indian toddlers were the fittest, with only nine per cent being overweight or obese.  Carol Dexateux, professor of Paediatric Epidemiology at the Institute of Child Health, said: “The concerns were already there, but this confirms that messages to parents of very young children about diet and exercise need to be re-enforced.”

(Mirror, p4, Gary Anderson, ½ page; Mail, p33)