AS children in the South West prepare to start school, new statistics released by Cancer Research UK today (Thursday) reveal the scale of the child obesity crisis facing the region.
Every year, around 4,000 children in the South West who started primary school at a healthy weight end up obese or overweight by the time they leave.
The British Heart Foundation (BHF) is calling for a ban on all junk food TV advertising before 9pm, as part of the Government’s Childhood Obesity Strategy, to help improve children’s health.
Millions of children across the UK are being exposed to junk food adverts during popular shows such as the X Factor and Hollyoaks.
Analysis by the BHF shows that weak regulations are...
A MAJORITY of obese people in Britain would not describe themselves as “obese”, and many would not even describe themselves as “very overweight”, according to a Cancer Research UK study.
In one of the first studies of its kind to examine British perceptions of obesity, fewer than 10 per cent of those who are clinically obese accept they have a serious weight problem.
Scientists have found that a simple blood test, which can read DNA, could be used to predict obesity levels in children.
Researchers at the Universities of Southampton, Plymouth and Exeter used the test to assess the levels of epigenetic switches in the PGC1a gene – a gene that regulates fat storage in the body.
Epigenetic switches take place through a chemical change called...
