Academics are calling for action to prevent unhealthy lifestyles from settling in among babies and toddlers as childhood obesity reaches “alarming” levels.
Experts warn that a child’s trajectory is established early in life and the first 1,000 days – from pregnancy through to a child’s second birthday – are “critical to development and health across the life-course”.
That trajectory “appears difficult to alter after the age of about five years”, a report from the UK Academy of Medical Sciences and the Italian National Academy of Sciences said.
“The overall goal should be to establish and maintain a healthy body-weight trajectory that avoids excess gain early in life.”
Early interventions during this period could include: helping women to begin pregnancy at a healthy weight; encouraging breastfeeding, which is linked with a reduced risk of childhood obesity and avoiding “rapid catch-up growth” in low birth weight babies.
In the UK, 1.3 million children are obese and a further 2.3 million are overweight, the authors said.
The authors highlight how single interventions, “such as diet or physical activity, in single settings,” rarely work without consideration of wider factors which may contribute to childhood obesity.
The report says that portraying obesity as a “character flaw” leads to stigmatisation, which can be counterproductive and may increase the risk of unhealthy diet and lifestyle, but positive messages about the benefits of maintaining a healthy weight may work better.
“Childhood obesity has become an urgent public health challenge that is both affecting lives today and storing up problems for the future,” the report states.
According to the latest National Childhood Measurement Programme figures, one in ten (9.6 per cent) children in England are obese when they begin their schooling, and 22.1 per cent of 10 and 11-year-olds in Year 6 are obese.
Obesity is higher in boys than girls, the figures show, and those living in poorer neighbourhoods are more likely to be obese compared to those in the wealthiest.
The authors of the new report highlight how levels of obesity in deprived areas are creating a “vicious cycle” because obesity is linked to reduced job opportunities, which in turn is a risk factor for weight gain.
The new report comes as the government prepares to launch its 10-year plan for health, which has a focus on preventing ill health from occurring in the first place.
Under new proposals set out in the plan, retailers could be made to set targets to increase their sales of less fattening products.
But the authors of the new report said that “robust” regulation of the food industry is needed rather than relying on voluntary agreements, with evidence supporting taxation of unhealthy products and potential subsidies for healthier options.
“The first 1,000 days, including time in the womb, represent an important window of opportunity to set children on a healthy trajectory for life,” said Professor Susan Ozanne, co-chair of the report.
“Once obesity is established, it becomes increasingly harder to reverse.
“This isn’t about individual willpower or blaming and shaming – it’s about creating an environment for parents, carers and their children that supports healthy development from the very beginning.”
Professor Rosalind Smyth, clinical vice-president at the Academy of Medical Sciences, added: “When we address health inequalities in the earliest years, we’re not just improving individual outcomes – we’re building the foundations for a healthier, more productive society.
“The evidence reinforces that prevention, which requires a cross-sectoral approach, must be coordinated across all government departments.”
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “Good nutrition is essential to giving babies the best start in life and this government has set a bold ambition to raise the healthiest generation of children ever.
“As part of our 10-Year Health Plan, food retailers and manufacturers will ‘make the healthy choice the easy choice’ in a world-first partnership between government and industry to tackle the obesity epidemic and ease pressure on the NHS.
“We have also set out plans to tackle widening health inequalities through fundamental reforms to our health system – putting an end to a postcode lottery of care, and we have allocated an extra £57 million for Start for Life services, helping expectant and new mothers with their infants.”
