New report on children’s physical activity

A new report from the Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH), is calling for more physical activity in schools to help children and young people maintain a healthy weight and avoid developing mental health issues.

Responding to the report, Greg Fell, ADPH President, said:

“27% of children between the ages of two and 15 are struggling with their weight and while we support the need for more physical activity among children and young people we also have to look at other factors in tackling obesity.

“For far too long, the commercial sector has influenced our eating and drinking habits. This is the case for adults and children, but promoting unhealthy food and drinks to children carries the extra risk of shaping their eating and drinking habits at an early age. This then sets them up for a lifetime of increased risk of a wide range of conditions which, at best, will limit their ability to enjoy a full, happy and productive life and, at worst, may kill them.

“One of the key ways to tackle the increase in obesity among children and young people, is to introduce tighter restrictions on advertising. Local authorities are coming up with approaches to promote healthy weight, including restricting advertising of unhealthy foods around schools, and challenging planning applications for new fast food outlets, but we need Government support and sustained funding if we are to develop a coherent strategy and promote long term system wide initiatives to help people to live healthier lives for longer.”