The health of British kids has never been under closer scrutiny than it is now. In championing the cause for better school meals, Jamie Oliver propelled kids food into the highest echelons of British politics. But despite the best efforts of Jamie (and not forgetting Norah), and a few half-hearted policy changes, how much has really changed?
The post-Jamie’s School Dinner’s world doesn’t look all that great.
A few months ago it was reported that stomach surgery for obese children was to be made available on the NHS. That means stomach stapling and gastric banding being offered to children as young as 14. And a move to prescribing anti-obesity drugs to the worst affected children of 12 and under – despite the fact that the medicines are only licensed for adults.
That more than a quarter of British kids are overweight and that one in seven youngsters are obese is more than just a problem of aesthetics. Type II diabetes – traditionally a disease of old age – is now being diagnosed in British teenagers. With the multitude of long-term health consequences that goes hand-in-hand with this, it spells disaster for an already ailing healthcare system.
Just as the physical health of the nation’s children degenerates, so to does their behaviour. Just in case it has gone unnoticed, Britain is in the grip of an Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) epidemic. That means 345,000 kids (around 5%) with an official diagnosis of childhood hyperactivity. Needless to say, prescriptions for drugs to treat the disorder have skyrocketed too.
There can be little doubt that the lives of children have become increasingly medicalised. We have a junk food industry awash with the glitter of celebrity endorsement and a pharmaceutical industry with a vested interest in disease creation to thank for that.
But finger-pointing aside, the answers don’t lie in the surgeon’s knife or a magic-bullet pill. The bottom-line is that kids don’t usually get fat or develop type II diabetes if they eat fresh, wholesome, unadulterated food and get some exercise. Likewise, there is an ever-growing body of evidence demonstrating that ADHD and challenging behaviour can be more effectively managed through nutritional intervention than prescription medication.
Despite what you might think when you read the average ‘children’s menu’ in any number of pubs or restaurants up and down the country, young people need nutrient-dense, wholesome food to nourish growing bodies and minds. Of course, the trick is getting them to eat it…
