Car Journeys That Can Put Children on Road to Obesity

ALLOWING a young child to spend just two hours a week in the car could be enough to trigger obesity.

Spending more than four hours a week watching television also increases the likelihood a child will become overweight, researchers have found.

The startling findings are revealed in a study by nutrition experts who have pinpointed 12 key factors that can cause a baby to grow into a fat child.

Scientists tracked 7,000 children across the UK from 12 weeks before they were born until the age of seven, and measured 20 aspects of their life to check for a cause of obesity.

The findings, by scientists at the University of Glasgow and Glasgow Caledonian University, come amid growing concern that one child in ten is now clinically obese when they start primary school in Scotland.

Some of their discoveries were unsurprising, with toddlers who snacked on junk food more likely to later become fat, but other results were more startling.

Researchers discovered that babies who slept fewer than eight hours a night were three times more likely to become overweight than those who slept for more than 12 hours. Nutritionists are now urging the government to focus on child health from an early age to tackle the problem.

Julie Armstrong, a nutrition expert at Glasgow Caledonian University who co-authored the report, stressed: ‘It is not the fault of parents or children – they are pushed towards products by the overwhelming marketing of poor-quality foods. ‘The problem is high added- sugar foodstuffs, which even includes products like yoghurt.’

The report, entitled Risk Factors for Obesity in Contemporary Children, will be published in the British Medical Journal later this year.

Early pointers to serious weight problems

Watching four or more hours of TV per week 2. Spending two hours or more a week in the car 3. Being an only child – research suggested such children were more likely to be spoiled 4. Sleeping less than eight hours a night 5.

Eating ‘junk’ food in pre-school years 6. Having overweight parents 7. Having a mother who smoked during pregnancy 8. Being fed formula food as a baby 9.

Being weaned too early onto solid food 10. Having a high birthweight and high weight in infancy 11. Gaining excessive weight in infancy 12. A baby loses up to 10% of its body weight in the first 72 hours of life. If the baby regains that weight in less than two weeks, he or she is likely to become obese in later childhood.

Weighing 22 stone at the age of 11

WHEN doctors warned 22-stone Joe Hara that he might need surgery to have his stomach reduced if he did not lose weight, the 11-year- old took action straight away.

Joe, who had a 54in waist, had ended up in hospital because of a hernia caused by his size.

Doctors said if he did not shed the pounds, he was at risk of developing diabetes and liver problems.

‘They told me that I had to lose half my body weight or I could need an operation,’ he said. ‘I felt scared and my mum got upset.’ With the help of a school nurse, the Sheffield youngster learned about a weight-loss scheme called Shine and has already lost 19lb in a month just by doing more exercise.

‘I used to sit in front of the TV, legs up, eating and playing on my PlayStation – but now I like to do badminton and table tennis,’ he said.

‘I feel happier since starting the course. I weigh less and I’m proud of myself.’

Next month he begins the next phase of the scheme – to improve his diet. He is still under the care of Sheffield Children’s Hospital.

Joe’s mother Moira, 40, said she feels guilty that he had grown so big.

She said in the past diets had failed to work and she had hoped the weight would drop off naturally as he got older.

‘I did not realise he had got so big,’ she added. ‘But when we went to hospital I was really embarrassed and blamed myself for not being stricter with him.

‘The course has been brilliant. It has boosted his confidence and he is a totally different boy. Weighing 22 stone at the age of 11