Obesity at ‘epidemic proportions’ in Europe, as one in three children now overweight

The UK also ranks fourth of all European countries for having the most overweight and obese adults, a WHO study found

Two teenage children have been taken into foster care in Sussex after their parents failed to get them to lose weight (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

One in three children in Europe are now obese or overweight, with the health crisis having been exacerbated by lockdowns brought in to slow the spread of Covid-19, a study has found.

New research from the World Health Organisation (WHO) also revealed that almost 60 per cent of adults are either overweight or obese across the contient.

The European Obesity Report warns that obesity rates have now reached “epidemic proportions” in Europe, causing more than an estimated 1.2 million deaths every year, as well as being leading risk factor for disability.

At present, the UK ranks fourth of all European countries for having the most overweight and obese adults, behind Israel, Malta and Turkey, the research states.

“Alarmingly, there have been consistent increases in the prevalence of overweight and obesity in the WHO European region and no member state is on track to reach the target of halting the rise in obesity by 2025”, the report said.

The obesity epidemic in Europe has been blamed, in part, on the rise in prominence of food delivery apps, such as Deliveroo and Uber Eats - with takeaway meals containing on average twice the amount of calories as their supermarket equivalents.

Meanwhile, a UK survey also found that 30 per cent of children did not leave the house on a typical day while living under strict stay at home rules enforced during the height of the coronavirus pandemic.

The lockdowns also saw reliance on home cooking soar - frequently classed as being far more unhealthy than school lunches.

For example, a British analysis found that only one per cent of packed lunches met school food standards between 2006 and 2016.

Free school meals provided by the government have been shown to improve children’s intake of healthy foods and lead to reductions in unhealthy body weight.

The WHO study found that more boys (29 per cent) than girls (27 per cent) are impacted by obesity.

In addition, researchers discovered that 7.9 per cent of children younger than five are now obese.

Prevalence does decrease temporarily between 10 and 19 years old, however, where one in five are overweight or obese.

The research noted that obesity is associated with many diseases, including musculoskeletal complications, Type 2 diabetes, heart disease and at least 13 types of cancer.

“Across the WHO European region, obesity is likely to be directly responsible for at least 200,000 new cancer cases annually, with this figure projected to rise in the coming decades,” the report states.

“For some countries within the region, it is predicted that obesity will overtake smoking as the main risk factor for preventable cancer in the coming decades.”

Elsewhere, data from the National Child Measurement Programme found that UK children from low-income neighbourhoods are more than twice as likely to be living with obesity than those from high-income neighbourhoods.

Figures shared by biobanks and primary care, meanwhile, estimated a 1.41 to 1.55 fold increase in the odds of a positive test for Covid-19 for people affected by obesity compared with those of a healthy weight.

“Obesity knows no borders,” said Dr Hans Kluge, WHO regional director for Europe.

“The countries in our region are incredibly diverse, but every one is challenged to some degree.

“By creating environments that are more enabling, promoting investment and innovation in health, and developing strong and resilient health systems, we can change the trajectory of obesity in the region.”

The report said “obesity is a disease - not only a risk factor” and its causes are more complex than just an unhealthy diet and physical inactivity.

It said that “environmental factors unique to living in modern Europe’s highly digitalised societies are also drivers of obesity”, such as the digital marketing of unhealthy food products to children, and the “proliferation of sedentary online gaming”.

But the study also said digital platforms may well “provide opportunities for the promotion and discussion of health and wellbeing.”

Among its calls for action, the report said there needs to be high-level political commitment to tackling obesity, alongside measures such as sugar taxes on sugary drinks, or subsidies on healthy food.

It called for unhealthy food marketing to children to be stopped, improvements in the way people access weight management services, and efforts to improve diet and physical activity across people’s lives from the moment they are conceived.

Other measures include limiting “the proliferation of takeaway outlets in low-income neighbourhoods” and combining food voucher schemes with behavioural interventions during pregnancy to “optimise the diet of vulnerable people during pregnancy”.

Baby food must also be properly labelled, breastfeeding recommended, and nutritional food standards in settings such as nurseries put into law, the study said.

One possibility aimed at teenagers is to frame “healthy eating as a strategy to achieve collective action against climate change”, while workplaces should also offer wellbeing programmes to help people improve their physical health.