Just like in the United States and throughout Europe, obesity is a growing problem in the United Kingdom. As of 2006, approximately 13.8 percent of children were overweight, and 15.4 percent of girls and 18.9 percent of boys were obese, according to the U.K. Department of Health. In the United Kingdom, the percentage of obese children is rising each year and leading to major health concerns related to chronic diseases and increased mortality risks through adulthood.
Statistics
As of 2001, approximately 15 percent of 15-year-olds and 8.5 percent of 6-year-olds in the United Kingdom were obese, estimates the U.K. Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology. By 1997, about 18 to 19 percent of 5-year-olds were overweight and 6 to 8 percent were obese. This is a stark contrast to obesity statistics gathered in 1984, which showed that just 5.4 to 9.3 percent of children aged 4 to 12 were overweight and just 0.6 to 1.3 percent were obese. More recent data from 2006 discovered that 16 percent of children ages 2 to 15 were obese, compared to an overall 11 percent of children in 1995, says the Health and Social Care Information Centre. The rise in childhood obesity rates seems to correlate with declining rates of participation in school sports and increasing rates of sedentary activities like watching television and playing video games.
Measurements
In the United Kingdom, the same body mass index, or BMI, measurements are used to categorize body weight as in the United States. The BMI categorizations were primarily used for adults in most research, with various other measurements used for detecting obesity in children, often depending on various age groups.
Gender Differences
In the United Kingdom, a larger percentage of boys are obese, according to the Health and Social Care Information Centre. In fact, obesity among girls ages 2 to 15 actually decreased from 18 percent in 2005 to 15 percent in 2006. U.K. researchers didn't see the same reduction in obesity percentages among boys, however. Despite this positive data on girls, boys were far more likely than girls to achieve the recommended physical activity levels, with 70 percent of boys and just 59 percent of girls meeting these standards.
Significance
Research in the United Kingdom may actually underestimate the true prevalence of childhood obesity in the nation, warns the U.K. Department of Health. Since overweight and obese children have a 70-percent chance of becoming overweight or obese adults, the health concerns associated with childhood obesity are enormous. Obesity increases an individual's risk for developing serious chronic conditions like type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, certain types of cancer and osteoarthritis, among many others.
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