2. Obesity in Children In the UK around 27% of children are obese In England and Wales 17 children per 100,000 have diabetes and in Scotland this is 25 per 100,000 Child obesity gives you a higher risk of becoming diabetic According to a report published by the NHS in January 2008, boys were more likely to be obese than girls A Department of Heath spokesman said childhood obesity is one of the biggest health challenges we face. It has been found that having a fat friend could lead to weight gain for a child Doctors say they have children as young as 6 months old in their obesity clinics
3. Obesity in Adults Two thirds of UK adults are obese Obesity makes you far more likely to develop diabetes, heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, depression & infertility 22% of men & 23% of women are obese Obesity causes 9,000 deaths a year in England A poll carried out by slimming world found that only 7% of the 2,000 obese asked classed themselves as obese An obese person dies on average 9 years earlier than somebody of normal weight Obesity treatment takes up 9% of the NHS budget
4. Obesity and the Media Due to the increasing number of larger celebrities, obesity is now being seen as normal in the eyes of the public Professor Michael McMahon of Nuffield Health says ''We talk about the dangers of skinny media images, but the problem actually swings both ways'' Former Hollyoakes soap star Mikyla Dodd, who weighed more than 25 stone, said ''There are very few role models in our society that are overweight. It's actually quite refreshing to see people who are in the public eye. It shows that fat people can be successful'' Obesity in children increases the more hours they watch television
5. Obesity and Social Class According to Social Trends 32 published in 1998, 20% of men in the skilled manual group & 19% of men in the unskilled class were obese compared to the 12% of men who were obese in the professional class In 1998, 31% of unskilled women were obese whereas only 15% of professional women were obese From the 'Tackling Child Obesity – First Step' published by the House of Commons in 2006/7 it states that 17% of children under 11 whose parents were in the semi-routine/routine social class were obese compared to the 12% of obese children under 11 whose parents were in the managerial social class People in lower social classes tend to be more obese than people in high social classes
