Scale of childhood obesity problem must be recognised

Childhood obesity is a worry to me and something I think about in several contexts — as a parent, a grandparent, as chief executive of a health promotion body, and even as a professional with a background in finance and health economics.

With one in four children now overweight or obese, and the problem beginning even earlier in childhood, with 6% of three-year-olds now obese, the scale of this issue might seem insurmountable.

However, what we must acknowledge is that it has taken up to 20 years to reach this point and the problem will not be solved overnight. We also know from evidence that once obesity is established in childhood, it is difficult to reverse and can track into adulthood. However, it is a public health challenge that we at Safefood are committed to tackling, with parents, one step at a time.