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The restaurants invited to stop offering children free ice cream, cakes and chocolate in fixed price menus to combat childhood obesity
- The Royal College of Pediatrics and Child Health has made recommendations
- Government already discussing ways to limit junk food advertising
- One-third of British children aged 2 to 15 belong to the overweight or obesity category
By Vanessa Chalmers Health Journalist for Mailonline
published: 04:08 EDT, April 8, 2019 | Update: 4:21 am EDT, April 8, 2019
It is forbidden for restaurants to offer children unhealthy desserts as part of fixed price menus, doctors said.
The Royal College of Pediatrics and Child Health said that stopping the practice could help reduce childhood obesity rates.
Free candies offered by the restaurants as part of the menus may include ice cream, cakes and other treats.
One-third of British children aged 2 to 15 are now overweight or obese, according to Public Health England figures.
The Royal College of Pediatrics and Child Health has called for the ban on free desserts that are part of a fixed-price menu to combat childhood obesity
Nearly two-thirds (64%) of restaurant chains offer a fixed-price menu in which a dessert is included, according to a February survey by Obesity Health Alliance.
About 87% of the desserts on offer were unhealthy. Some, however, offer fresh fruit.
WHAT ARE UK CHILDREN?
English children are bigger than ever – official data revealed in October that one in 25 years, aged 10 to 11 years, was seriously obese, the largest category possible.
And of about 556,000 British children of primary school age, 170,000 are overweight to some extent, according to May figures.
More than one in five children over the age of 11 is obese – which equates to about 111,000 children – and is so fat that it is more likely to develop type 2 diabetes, heart disease, cancer or stroke.
The Royal College of Pediatrics and Child Health states that children must be weighed every year at school because "the danger is on the horizon" and that the UK is late compared to the rest of the EU in the fight against obesity.
The experts also warned children to gain weight "at a breakneck pace" when they are in school.
Sugar in food is known to contribute to the swelling of children's waistlines, with huge amounts of popular foods filled with sugar.
A tax on sugar has reduced the effects of some non-alcoholic beverages, but breakfast cereals can still hold more than 70% of the sugar of a whole day in a single bowl.
Even a single can of Coca Cola (35 g of sugar) or a March bar (33 g) contains more than the maximum amount of sugar that a child should have on an entire day.
"If we do not solve this crisis of obesity, today's obese children will become tomorrow's obese adults whose healthy life years will be shortened by a whole series of health problems." health, "said Izzi Seccombe of the Local Government Association in May.
The RCPCH has now urged ministers to consider a ban after consulting more measures to restrict promotions on foods high in fat, salt and sugar, according to the Times.
Max Davie, head of health improvement at RCPCH, suggested that families often give their children dessert, as it's a great value.
He said: "As a parent myself, when I go out to the restaurant and I use a children's menu, I feel obliged to allow my children to always have a pudding, even if they are not. they are full because we have "paid for it". "
Last year, 26,000 children under the age of 10 were taken to the hospital with rotten teeth. Being overweight increases the risk of major health problems, including type 2 diabetes.
RCPCH's recommendations come after the revelation in January that British children consume 22 nuclei (140 kg) of sugar before the age of 10.
From the age of two, children consume on average about 2 oz of sugar – 52 g – a day. This is more than twice the daily maximum recommended.
According to a study conducted by the Institute for Fiscal Studies, children are exposed daily to messages about unhealthy foods – half of TV commercials of food and beverages seen by children involve unhealthy or fast-food items. foods.
There is evidence that exposure to food advertising can have an immediate and long-term impact on children's health by encouraging them to eat both immediately after seeing the advertisement and by changing their food preferences.
Strict new rules came into effect in July 2017, banning advertising for foods high in fat, sugar and salt in the media, including online platforms.
Advertisements for junk food in children's television programs have been banned since 2007.
The IFS found, however, that 70% of the TV campaigns for high-fat, high-sugar and salt products, or that restaurants and bars were now projected before the 21-hour turning point.
As part of a major crackdown this year, the government has banned two-for-one agreements on junk food and public transport advertising in London.
The consultation on the last phase of the strategy on childhood obesity – including the ban on junk food advertising before the 21h watershed – is already underway.
The calorie content of the cooked dishes, sandwiches and dishes served at the restaurant should be reduced by 2024 according to government plans.
And the latest figures suggest that food manufacturers have reduced their average sugar level by only 2%, compared to 5% targets.
What is obesity? AND WHAT ARE THE RISKS TO HEALTH?
Obesity is defined as an adult with a BMI of 30 or more.
The BMI of a healthy person – calculated by dividing weight in kg by height in meters and height response still – is between 18.5 and 24.9.
In children, obesity is defined as the 95th percentile.
Percentiles compare youth to others of the same age.
For example, if a three-month-old child is in the 40th percentile of weight, that means that 40% of three-month-olds weigh the same or less than that baby.
About 58% of women and 68% of British men are overweight or obese.
The situation costs the NHS about £ 6.1 billion, on a budget of around £ 124.7 billion each year.
This is due to obesity which increases the risk of developing a number of life-threatening conditions.
These conditions include type 2 diabetes, which can cause kidney disease, blindness and even limb amputations.
Research suggests that at least one in six hospital beds in the UK is used by a diabetic patient.
Obesity also increases the risk of heart disease, which kills 315,000 people each year in the UK, making it the leading cause of death.
Wearing dangerous amounts of weight has also been badociated with 12 different cancers.
This includes bads, which affect one in eight women at some point in their lives.
According to research, in children, 70% of obese children have high blood pressure or high cholesterol, which puts them at risk for heart disease.
Obese children are also much more likely to become obese adults.
And if children are overweight, their obesity in adulthood is often more serious.
In the UK, up to one in five children who start going to school is overweight or obese, this figure rising to one in three at the age of 10.
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