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Junk food children 'eating themselves into an early grave'
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-05-11 14:48
 British children are 'eating themselves into an early grave', a leading obesity expert has warned. Calling for a 'fat tax' on unhealthy foods, Dr Tim Lobstein said that hundreds of thousands were suffering from liver disease, high blood pressure and high cholesterol while still in primary school. He said a couch potato lifestyle and a growing appetite for junk food meant today's youngsters ran a real risk of being the first generation to die at an earlier age than their parents. Some 91,000 have high cholesterol, 60,000 have high blood pressure and 91,000 have liver disease before even reaching the age of 12, his calculations show. Few children will realise they even have the conditions that, while symptomless, raise the odds of deadly heart disease, strokes and cirrhosis in later life. And tens of thousands of primary school children have blood sugar and insulin problems linked to diabetes, the European Congress on Obesity heard. |
