Food in the UK: Children Are Heavier and Sicker

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Children in the UK are becoming shorter, heavier and sicker due to "shocking levels" of poverty and food deprivation, according to a new report.

Charity The Food Foundation also blamed the "aggressive promotion of cheap junk food" for the deterioration of children's health and wellbeing.

According to Sky News, the report states that the average height of five-year-olds has fallen year on year since 2013 and that UK boys and girls are the shortest and second shortest compared to other high-income countries. , based on data from the Noncommunicable Disease Risk Factors Collaboration - a network of health scientists.

Obesity among young people aged 10 to 11 has also increased by 30% since 2006, with one in five children considered obese when they leave primary school, according to the report, which cites data from the National Child Measurement Programme.

Diet-related diseases, such as type 2 diabetes, have also seen an increase in people under 25, with a 22% increase in the last five years, says the Food Foundation, using data from the National Diabetes Audit 2021- 2022.

The institution's activists stated that the cost of living crisis had worsened the problem and called for action by the next government to "reverse the current trajectory".

According to the organization, the lack of action "will lead to a generation burdened throughout their lives by diet-related illnesses and the consequences that arise", including for mental health and the national health service.