IF EUROPEANS still think obesity is largely an American problem, they had better think again. Childhood obesity in the European Union has ballooned by almost 50 per cent since the late 1990s, and if the present trend continues, 10 per cent of European children will be obese by 2010, more than double previous estimates.
The number of children in the EU classified as overweight rather than obese is expected to hit 26 million within four years. That is more than one-third of the child population (International Journal of Pediatric Obesity, vol 1, p 11).
Tim Lobstein of the International…
