One in three British teenagers is now overweight or obese, new study reveals - with excessive screen time and ultra-processed foods blamed
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A third of British teenagers are now overweight or obese, putting them at serious risk of debilitating chronic disease and early death, according to a major new study.
The figure has risen by 50 per cent over the past two decades, which experts have put down to sedentary lifestyles driven by excessive screen time.
According to the leading British researchers, increased consumption of ultra-processed foods – which contain artificial ingredients not found in a normal home kitchen – are also to blame.
Data suggests that the number of overweight and obese adolescents, aged between 12 and 17, rose sharply during the Covid pandemic, probably because of a lack of exercise and the accompanying increase in mental health issues which disrupted the diets of some children.
The study also found that these children are vastly more likely to develop dangerous health conditions including the blood sugar condition type 2 diabetes and liver disease before their early 20s.
'Type 2 diabetes used to be an issue we'd primarily see in adults, but in the last decade we've seen a striking increase in the number of children, some as young as ten, developing it,' says Dr Dinesh Giri, consultant paediatric endocrinologist at Bristol Royal Hospital for Children, and co-author of the study.
'When children get diabetes, or other serious weight-related conditions like liver disease, this will shorten their lifespan because it puts them at-risk of serious health complications.
'Parents need to realise the danger that weight issues pose to their children.'
Data suggests that the number of overweight and obese adolescents rose sharply during the Covid pandemic (File image)
The number of overweight teens has risen by 50 per cent over the past two decades, which experts have put down to sedentary lifestyles driven by excessive screen time (File image)
In 2008, around a fifth of adolescents were classed as overweight or obese – which refers to how much excess body fat they have.
But the latest research, presented this weekend at the European Congress on Obesity in Malaga, Spain, concluded that between 2008 and 2023, this figure rose 11 per cent.
Experts say one of the key drivers of this increase is the amount of ultra-processed fast food children consume.
Last year, the Government announced a ban on TV adverts for junk food before 9pm, in an effort to tackle childhood obesity. The ban is set to come into effect in October 2025.
However, researcher argue that the rising number of children with mobile phones is also to blame for the increase.
'There's been a significant change in the average child's lifestyle, it's something we can all see happening around us,' says Dr Dinesh Giri.
'Children no longer go out to play as much and instead spend their time looking at screens. This impacts how much they exercise and, as such, their weight.'
Dr Giri added that the Covid pandemic also appeared to have disproportionately impacted the weight of adolescents.
'Obesity levels did not markedly change for any other age group during and after the pandemic,' he says.
'It's possible that this is because adolescents were at an age where habits around exercise and diet are formed, and they spent this time indoors doing very little.'
Daily Mail
