Children’s Obesity Epidemic Due To Lack of Exercise As Well As Over-eating Says Charity Chief

STOCKPORT, U.K. - June 5, 2015 - PRLog -- Cheshire-based charity Action for Sick Children’s chief executive Val Jackson said the obesity epidemic that is affecting a growing number of our children is not simply down to an unhealthy diet but also due to a worrying lack of exercise.

“Poor diet and the over consumption of sugary food and drinks is a root cause  of this nationwide problem but so is the failure of parents to ensure their children take regular exercise rather than allowing them to spend too much time in front of the TV and computer games,” she said speaking from her Stockport HQ.

Miss Jackson was responding to comments from the head of the NHS Mr Simon Stevens who called for a campaign to tackle obesity in an address to an NHS conference in Liverpool.

He told his audience that one child in ten is obese on starting primary school and one in five was too fat when they leave.

“As a society, as parents, we are doing something terribly wrong in the way in which we are supporting and bringing up the next generation,” he said: “That will mean a rising tide of unavoidable type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer because we now know that one in five cancers are caused by obesity...”

Miss Jackson said Action for Sick Children was committed to campaigning for a healthy future for all children.

“That is why we put so much effort into our unique Dental Playbox project which utilises fun, laughter, games and puppets to teach them the basics of caring for the health of their teeth,” she added. “In fact our campaign has been so successful in the North West of England that we are now taking the Dental Playbox to schools and nurseries in the Leeds area, to ensure children from the West Yorkshire area can reap the benefits too.”

For further information click onto: www.actionforsickchildren.org.uk

ENDS