Stratford mum backs obesity campaign

A STRATFORD-UPON-AVON mum is backing a national campaign to raise awareness and tackle child obesity.

As Warwickshire children prepare to start school, new statistics released by Cancer Research UK (CRUK) today, Thursday, reveal the scale of the child obesity crisis facing the county.

According to CRUK every year, around 7,500 children in the West Midlands and Warwickshire, who start primary school at a healthy weight, end up obese or overweight by the time they leave.

This worrying statistic adds to the fact that nearly one in four children in the region are already overweight or obese when they start primary school.

And by the time they leave, that figure rises to more than one in three.

Being overweight or obese is the single biggest cause of preventable cancer in the UK after smoking and contributes to 18,100 cases of the disease every year. It is linked to ten types of cancer including bowel, breast, and pancreatic.

Sarah-Louise Bridgewater, a cancer campaigner and mum of two from Stratford-upon-Avon, said: “As a mum, my number one priority is to make sure my children are healthy. As much as I want to, I just can’t watch my children 24 hours a day and it’s hard to stop them spending their pocket money on junk food. We’ve got to pull together to stop kids stuffing themselves with fatty sugary food that’s going to make them ill later in life.”

Sarah is just one of many concerned parents who have given their support to the CRUK campaign

Cancer Research UK is now urging people across the region to email their MP at cruk.org/ChildhoodObesityStrategy to raise the issue with Prime Minster Theresa May.

Paula Young, CRUK spokesperson for Warwickshire, said: “Obese children are around five times more likely to grow into obese adults, and obese adults are more likely to develop cancer and other diseases.”