Let's make a New Year's resolution on obesity

As the nation prepares for the season of feasting on chocolate assortments, now is a good time to think about our troubled attitude to food and health. After eating some 5,000 calories a day over Christmas, many of us will experience a rush of guilt over the New Year. Those who can afford it might join a gym.

Tomorrow, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence will produce new guidelines on tackling obesity in children. They will approve stomach-stapling surgery for teenagers who are severely overweight.

Drastic though it sounds, this recommendation is to be welcomed, because drastic action is necessary to save these young people from the disastrous effects of extra weight - cancer, heart disease, diabetes, crippling joint disease and premature death.

On current trends, by 2010, an estimated 12 million adults and one million children will be obese. The average eight-year-old now eats 1,200 calories a day more than a child of that age did in the 1950s; reversing these habits once they are entrenched is notoriously difficult.

Leader
Sunday December 10, 2006
The Observer

If you are worried about obesity please contact Prima Training and chat to one of our highly skilled consultants.