Obesity, diabetes: the health of British children has deteriorated spectacularly over the past 10 years due to poverty and poor diet, according to a report published Wednesday, which warns of this “neglected generation” as they approach legislative.
According to the Food Foundation, an independent body, the average height of five-year-olds has fallen since 2013 in the UK, and obesity levels among English 10-11 year-olds have increased by 30% since 2006, with one in five children officially obese when they leave primary school.
At the same time, the number of cases of type 2 diabetes – linked to obesity – has increased by 22% among under-25s in England and Wales over the past five years.
Because of all these “largely preventable” diseases, babies born in 2024 will live one year less in good health than those born ten years ago, points out the foundation.
“Shocking levels of poverty”
Its researchers blame “shocking levels of poverty and deprivation, which generate food insecurity, or the aggressive promotion of cheap junk food by the industry”.
The deterioration of public health and the worsening of inequalities are among the drivers of mistrust towards the conservatives in power for 14 years in the run-up to the legislative elections on July 4.
Austerity cure under the conservatives
The United Kingdom underwent austerity under the Conservatives in the early 2010s, undermining public services. Then the galloping inflation of 2022-2023 particularly affected food, pushing some families towards food banks to survive.
Two weeks before the elections, the Food Foundation, which denounces “totally insufficient” policies, calls on “all parties to commit to taking strong measures” on the subject.
Lifelong consequences
Because if this alarming trajectory is not reversed, a “neglected generation” will be confronted throughout their lives with diet-related illnesses, accompanied by mental health problems, at the risk of causing premature deaths, these experts warned.
This crisis also risks overwhelming the NHS, Britain’s already faltering public health service, and weakening the economy for decades, with part of the population too ill to work.
Favorite in the polls, Labor (centre-left) promises an “ambitious” policy to combat child poverty, but is widely criticized for having renounced a key measure in this area in the name of budgetary rigor.
This article was automatically published. Sources: ats / blg / afp
