Childhood obesity time bomb blows up

The number developing so called "adult" or type 2 diabetes - which normally afflicts overweight middle-aged people - has increased 10-fold in the last five years.

The boost, from 10 to 100 new cases every year, appears in the first nationwide research into the explosion of Type 2 diabetes in the youth under 16. It had been considered that the overall number of children suffering from the condition, which leads to blindness, heart disease, strokes and kidney failure, was just 100.

The leader of the research team from the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health called the figure "shocking".

The discoveries appear in a critical moment for the health of the society, including youth people. The chief medical officer, Prof Sir Liam Donaldson, has emphasized that obesity will result in some youngsters dying earlier than their parents. The new research is published as the Sunday Telegraph today presents Jamie Oliver as a new food journalist.

Every month, the campaigner and chef will deal with British food in Stella magazine. The newspaper has also convened a group of experts to discuss the present state of British food in a debate led by the writer and broadcaster John Humphrys.

Poor nutrition has boosted obesity and diabetes. Doctors are sure that these conditions result from junk food diets as well as so called "couch potato" lifestyle - with youngsters, for example, playing computer games and watching television all day long.

The Department of Health prepares the first public anti-obesity health campaign later this year, but doctors are afraid that it will be only a drop in the ocean.

Scientists from the Royal College made a national audit of all NHS diagnoses of Type 2 diabetes in children under 16 in 2004-5. But experts claim that the number of 100 a year might be just the tip of the iceberg because many parents might not be aware of the fact that their severely overweight children have the early signs of diabetes.

A number of 60,000 children are considered to be suffering from weight-related metabolic syndrome - a set of conditions including raised cholesterol, high blood pressure and increased fats in the blood - which is regarded to precede Type 2 diabetes.

What is alarming, Type 2 diabetes in children seems to lead to more acute complications than Type 1, which is caused by the body's inability to produce enough insulin responsible for regulating blood sugar.

Type 2 diabetes usually appears later in life and is sometimes called a late-onset diabetes or non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus as insulin treatment is not always necessary.

Julian Shield, an endocrinologist and a paediatrician at Bristol University and Bristol Royal Hospital, who made the research, stated: "Until now we had no idea how many children were being diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. It is a shocking figure."

At present, the National Health Service has just two specialist child obesity clinics at Bristol Royal Hospital for Sick Children and at Great Ormond St Hospital in London.

But the obesity crisis is not limited to children. A quarter of British people have a BMI (body mass index) higher than 30 and are thereby clinically obese - a 75 per cent boosted on 10 years ago.

A spokesman for the International Task Force on Obesity, Neville Rigby stated: "The childhood obesity time bomb has already exploded. The issue now is facing up to a rapidly worsening scale of problems."

The deputy chairman of the British Medical Association, Sam Etherington, encourages people to stop companies from advertising junk food to youngsters and children.

A spokesman for the charity Diabetes UK noted: "Overweight people are 80 times more likely to develop Type 2 diabetes than those who maintain a healthy weight. It is important that we act now to reduce the rates of obesity. Individuals and families must take responsibility for their own health."

A Department of Health spokesman expressed: "Our aim is to tackle poor diet and reduce obesity in the population as a whole."

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