Health time-bomb

It is generally accepted that the current generation of youngsters in the US and western Europe is showing a worrying rise in obesity. Health experts are warning parents to pay more attention to their children's diets, as a new report finds that one in 10 six-year-olds are obese.

A report from the UK's Health Development Agency (HDA) says that obesity in children is rising by nearly one per cent annually.

About 18 per cent of French children are overweight. In America, where Krispy Kreme doughnuts and Big Macs seem to be part of the staple diet, more than 30 per cent of the population is obese and more than 60 per cent are overweight.

A chain of European obesity studies released earlier this year show many countries are at serious risk of becoming as obese, or more so, than the US.

French and Germans may be as fat as Americans by 2020, but the Spanish might hit that mark in the next decade. In Spain, where obesity is the second highest cause of preventable death, people are opting for stomach bypass surgery rather than a change in diet or exercise. More than 10,000 have already undergone the surgery.

The British Medical Association, in a June report, attacked not only school lunches, but sought to eliminate junk food advertising.

"It is madness that at a time when children are being told to eat less and do more exercise, they go into school and are sold fizzy drinks and doughnuts and do less than two hours (in-school) exercise a week," said Dr Vivienne Nathanson, of BMA.

The French government is a step ahead of the British. Junk food vending machines in schools were banned and new regulations are being added on advertising of sugary products.

Part of the problem may lie with school lunches.

In the UK, with only 25 pence spent on average for school lunches, foods were shown to be mostly fat, sugar and salt rather than the nutritious foods parents assumed their children were eating.

How kids really eat - not only at school but also junk food snacks at home and supermarket-prepared meals at dinner - is a big part of what causes childhood obesity.

"The research indicates that parents can make a huge impact by changing the family's approach to diet and by encouraging the family to become more active and avoiding a couch potato lifestyle," chairperson of the UK Health Development Agency (HDA), Dame Yve Buckland, said.

Although this appears to be a health problem, it actually has widespread economic repercussions.

In the UK, obesity kills more than 30,000 people a year and costs the National Health Service (NHS) an estimated £2.6 billion annually in treating conditions such as diabetes and heart disease. This figure is expected to rise to £3.6 billion by 2010.

Needless to say, the payment for this will come from an increase in taxes. This 'health bomb' will also detonate in your pocket.

So what has all this got to do with an article about road running?

Well, the UK HDA encouraged families to become "more active".

That's where we come in. In the UK, over 80,000 people apply to run the London Marathon every year, and 30,000 are accepted.

In Malta, only 400 Maltese run the Malta Marathon (or Half Marathon) every year. We need to get that number up. Not to become more competitive, but to make you, and your children, more healthy.

The warning signs in Europe and the US are grave... doing nothing is no longer an option.