Stratford mum bidding to tackle child obesity - The Stratford Observer

Stratford mum bidding to tackle child obesity

Stratford Editorial 4th Sep, 2016 Updated: 28th Oct, 2016   0

A MUM from Stratford is leading the fight against childhood obesity.

Advertising junk food during children’s programmes has already been banned but now there is a call for the same to happen during family viewing time after new figures released by Cancer Research UK revealed the scale of the child obesity in Warwickshire.

Every year, around 7,500 children in Warwickshire and the West Midlands who start primary school at a healthy weight end up obese or overweight by the time they leave.

And nearly one in four children are already overweight when they start primary school.




Cancer Research UK say obese children are around five times more likely to grow into obese adults, and obese adults are more likely to develop cancer and other diseases.

Being overweight or obese is the single biggest cause of preventable cancer in the UK after smoking and contributes to 18,100 cases of the disease every year.


Stratford mum-of-two and cancer campaigner, Sarah-Louise Bridgewater, wants the Government to do more to stop unhealthy foods being advertised to children.

She said: “As a mum, my number one priority is to make sure my children are healthy. Seeing these outsize school uniforms has really worried me.

“As much as I want to, I just can’t watch my children 24 hours a day and it’s hard to stop them spending their pocket money on junk food.

“We’ve got to pull together to stop kids stuffing themselves with fatty sugary food that’s going to make them ill later in life.”

Cancer Research UK’s director of prevention, Alison Cox added it would take more than encouraging exercise and a sugar tax to tackle obesity.

She said: “Young waistlines have been expanding steadily over the last two decades.

“With so many overweight and obese children in Warwickshire and across England, we are seeing a greater need for larger school uniforms.

“It’s a shame the Government has missed an opportunity to save lives.”

The charity is urging people to email their MP to raise the issue.

Visit cruk.org/ChildhoodObesityStrategy for more information.

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