Almost A Quarter Of British Children Are Overweight By The Age Of THREE – Could Low Breastfeeding Rates Be To Blame?

The child obesity issue has been ongoing for years, but many people probably don’t realise how bad the it actually is. Especially as it's often hard to tell from looking at a child whether they're overweight or not.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has now revealed that 23 per cent of British children are clinically obese or overweight by the age of three. But will these shocking stats be the push the UK government and parents need to help tackle the problem wholeheartedly?

Scarily, out of the 28 countries that WHO collected data on for their report, only Ireland was shown to have a worse case of overweight children than the UK.

There’s no doubt that a lack of physical activity in young children and an overindulgence in unhealthy food plays a massive part in these figures, but experts are also warning that a lack of breastfeeding could be to blame.

The UK has some of the lowest breastfeeding rates in the world with only one in five women exclusively breastfeeding for six months – which is the amount of time that WHO recommends.

Breastfeeding has been proven to protect children against unhealthy weight gain. This is because the alternative, formula, has higher protein levels in it that are more likely to cause obesity later in life.

Despite the many benefits of breastfeeding for both mother and child, the NHS calculates that while 82 per cent of mums start out breastfeeding, this figure slopes off to 55 per cent just six weeks later.

There are myriad reasons mums don't end up breastfeeding their babies. While some make the choice not to, many experience severe difficulties at the start, from problems producing milk to their babies failing to latch on, which lead them to resort to giving their child formula.

Others find support lacking and even suffer from judgement while out in public, which drives them to the bottle.

The Dangers Of Early Weight Gain
There are lots of health risks to overweight children and it can lead to a number of diseases and conditions – both now and in the future. Plus, overweight children are much more likely to become overweight adults

A number of children who are too heavy suffer later from asthma, gallstones, heart disease, high blood pressures, trouble sleeping and diabetes, to name a few.

Worringly, it’s not always easy to tell if a pre-schooler is overweight. They may not look like they’re too big for their size but their body mass index (BMI) might be higher than it should be. You can use the NHS’ BMI tool to work out how healthy your little one is.

Most experts wouldn’t ever suggest an overweight child diets – that’s a whole other issue.

Instead of counting calories, children need a balanced and healthy diet, which you can help them achieve by leading by example. Try and prepare food at home and eat together as a family and switch off the TV when you sit down for meals as it’s easy to overeat if you’re distracted.

And being active it key, too. Physical activity burns the calories your child has consumed and it helps him develop muscles and a strong body. Once your child can walk on his own, the NHS recommends that he’s moving around for at least three hours every day.

[A Healthy Diet Is The Key To Tackling Obesity – NOT Exercise, Say Doctors]

[Katie Hopkins’ Child Obesity Solution: Send All Fat Children To Special Sports Schools]