Parents blamed for schoolkids’ obesity

NHS figures showed more than one-in-five of the country’s 52,000 five-year-olds pupils are overweight, obese, or severely obese.

Eight per cent are obese and four per cent severely obese.

Almost one in 10 in Primary One from the most deprived areas are obese.

But the true extent of the problem could be worse as the figures do not include the Greater Glasgow area, which has one of the poorest health and dietary records in West-ern Europe.

Last night there were calls for urgent action. Scottish Tory health spokeswoman Mary Scanlon said: “Such statistics do not bode well for the future.

“It’s clear we must educate people about the dangers of an unhealthy lifestyle, starting with ante-natal classes.

“Perhaps the most important issue to tackle longer term are the problems with parenting.

“We’re now seeing the third generation of parents who lack basic parenting skills.”

The percentage of overweight P1 pupils is down slightly from 2006-07.

NHS Grampian, NHS Orkney, NHS Shetland and NHS Highland were also not included in the survey by the Scottish Government’s health statistics department.

Public Health Minister  Shona Robison said last night: “There are encouraging signs that fewer children are now becoming overweight.

“The challenge now is to maintain this progress with healthy lifestyles.

“A record investment of £56million is being made available by the Scottish Government to do just that.”

She added that measures were being put in place to ensure children learn healthy eating habits, including the introduction of free school meals for primaries one to three, a travelling “cooking bus” which teaches healthy cooking skills and the banning of the sale of high sugar fizzy drinks in schools.

Figures last September showed obesity contributed to 50,000 cases of coronary heart disease, 900 cancer cases, 30,000 cases of Type 2 diabetes and almost 500,000 cases of high blood pressure.