Epidemiology

We have entered the 21st century in the knowledge that more and more children in the UK are becoming overweight or obese. Data from a number of UK studies have indicated that there has been a marked increase, particularly since the 1980s. Data on 4–11-year-olds, from three independent cross-sectional surveys published in the British Medical Journal, showed that from 1984 to 1994 the percentage classified as overweight increased from 5.4% to 9% in English boys, and from 9.3% to 13.5% in English girls.^₁ Data from the Health Survey for England indicate that in 2001 approximately 8.5% of 6- year-olds and 15% of 15-year-olds were obese. Information collected by the European Association for the study of Obesity (EASO) Childhood Obesity Taskforce also showed that the UK has one of the highest prevalence rates of overweight children in Europe.