22/03/2011 Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
Strasbourg, 22.03.2011 - One quarter of European schoolchildren are overweight or obese, the levels of excess weight and obesity being greater in southern Europe than in northern European counterparts, Michael Hancock (United Kingdom, ALDE) underlines in his report on safeguarding children and young people from obesity and type 2 diabetes. The islands of Malta, Sicily, Gibraltar and Crete are particularly concerned, as well as the countries of Spain, Portugal and Italy, with levels exceeding 30 per cent among children aged 7 to 11. Levels of 20 per cent are reported in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Cyprus, Sweden and Greece. Hungary, Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands and Bulgaria report levels of 10 to 20 per cent.
In a draft resolution and recommendation adopted in Paris today, PACE Social Affairs Committee calls upon member states to take urgent action to protect children and young people from the onset and the consequences of obesity and type 2 diabetes, including, in particular, measures to promote healthy nutritional habits, a healthy lifestyle and a healthy environment.
Measures mentioned include the improvement of school meals, the promotion of breastfeeding, the improvement of urban mobility - for instance by promoting cycling through better urban design - awareness-raising campaigns in schools, food marketing regulations and the possible introduction of taxes on foods that are high in synthethic trans-fats.
“There is little evidence of any change in the prevalence of childhood obesity before the early 1980s, and signs of rapid increase during the 1990s and early 2000s. If nothing is done to counter this phenomenon, member states will face a dramatic increase in public health expenditure in the next 15 to 20 years to cover the cost of related illnesses, including cardiovascular diseases and cancers linked to obesity. In France alone, this cost could reach 7 per cent of public health expenditutre in 2020,” Michael Hancock warns.