The British Medical Association estimate that 30 per cent of boys and 40
per cent of girls will be obese by 2020.
An obese teen is 70 per
cent more likely to become an obese adult with the an increased chance
of heart disease, diabetes, cancer and death. Overweight or obese
adolescents tend to leave education earlier, and as adults earn a
household average of £3,500 less each year, and are 20 per cent less
likely to marry.
If you're still not sure of how a child is affected by an unhealthy
diet, take a look at this list of killer facts.
Fact 1
If a child has 1 (45g) chocolate bar, 1 (35 g) packet of crisps and 1
can (330ml) fizzy drink every school day, it will result in an extra 559
kilocalories per day.
To avoid putting on weight a teen would have to play 40 minutes of
football per day or run a marathon every 5 days!
If the same snacking habits continued over the course of the school
year, it would add up to eating to 20 (250g) blocks of butter, 41 salt
sachets, 11 kilogrammes of sugar, and would cost around £235 - the same
price as a 12-month mobile phone contract with 500 minutes and 300
texts.
Fact 2
Eating a side order of fried chips with half a sachet of salt rather
than a side order of new potatoes will provide an extra 15 (250g) packs
of butter (3 of which would be saturated fat) and an extra 100 sachets
of salt over the course of the school year (190 days).
Fact 3
Adding a 4g sachet of salt to a portion of chips at lunchtime will
provide 60 per cent of the recommended daily intake of salt for 11-16
year olds and 90 percent for 7-10 year olds.
Fact 4
A recent survey in Secondary Schools showed that 87 per cent of boys
and 98 per cent of girls failed to consume the intake of iron
recommended by the Caroline Walker Trust (CWT) nutrient standards for
school meals.
Fact 5
The same survey showed that 80 per cent of boys and 77 per cent of
girls failed to consume the amount of calcium recommended by the
Caroline Walker Trust (CWT) nutrient standards for school meals.
Fact 6
The average child in the UK eats less than half of the recommended 5
portions of fruit or vegetables every day.
Fact 7
In 2003, a third of 12 year olds and half of 15-year-olds were found
to have had some dental decay experience. Dental decay is associated
with a high level of sugar in the diet such as eating sugary foods and
sipping sugary drinks, particularly between meals.
