Nursery World - Government 'nowhere near' target of halving child obesity

The outoing chief medical officer for England has warned that the country is nowhere near achieving the Government's ambition to halve child obesity by 2030.

Professor Dame Sally Davies

In her final report on child obesity, published today, the outgoing CMO, Professor Dame Sally Davies, says that more must be done to prioritise children’s health and calls on politicians to do their ‘duty, be bold and take further actions to protect and improve children’s health.’

Professor Davies stepped down as CMO on 1 October. She has been replaced by Professor Chris Whitty.

According to the report, which is independent from Government, currently an average of six children out of a class of 30 are obese and a further four are overweight – twice as many as 30 years ago.

Consequently, there are more than 100 new diagnoses of type 2 diabetes in children every year and more than 700 children are living with the condition. Meanwhile, in 2017/18, there were 38,385 children who underwent a general aesthetic to have rotten teeth extracted.

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