Children should teach families about obesity
The Telegraph – 01 August 2015
Children should help teach their parents about the risk of obesity and how to change their lifestyles, one of Britain’s most senior doctors has said.
Sir Bruce Keogh, NHS England’s Medical Director, said that the government’s obesity strategy should have a greater focus on schools. He said that children have a role to play in “educating” their parents and siblings about the importance of a healthy diet.
He said: “I think from our point of view the obesity strategy needs to span a number of government departments. It needs to start with education which is very powerful because it gets to kids who in turn get to their parents and their siblings.
Sir Bruce’s comments come as Professor Susan Jebb, a key government adviser on the obesity epidemic, suggested that children could act like “trojan horses” and take messages about healthy eating home.
However, she said it was “naive to imagine we can leave all this to school”, adding that parents and retailers need to take greater responsibility.
Full article available here