British Children Getting Shorter, Fatter, and Sicker: Report

The authors of a damning report into children’s health have called on the next government to do more to tackle the soaring level of obesity in youngsters, which they say is a “ticking timebomb” for a lifetime of illness and comes at a huge cost to both the state and the individual. The report by The Food Foundation charity, released on Wednesday, concludes that “aggressive” marketing of cheap, ultra-processed food together with diets lacking nutrition—often fuelled by poverty as well as the food industry—are behind a “significant decline” in children’s health. It finds that British children have been getting shorter, on average, since 2013, after being on an upward trajectory since 2000. While acknowledging that ethnicity plays a role in height, the report says data suggest the decline is more down to dietary deficiencies than to shifting demographics....