News and Opinion
There are stories relating to obesity breaking around the world every day. The stories below are those where journalists haver sought NOF opnion/quotes or summaries of research on which NOF may have a view. Where possible the source of the stories are identified by the newspaper banner or a URL in red.
NOF Opinion will always be identified in italics.
BST to beat child obesity?
- Details
- Published on Thursday, 10 November 2011
Researchers from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine [LSHTM]have suggested that keeping BST year-long could help in preventing childhood obesity. In the November issue of Journal of Physical Activity and Heath they state that children spend 11% more of their time outdoors on days before the clocks are put back from October-April. The paper happens to coincide with the passage of the Daylight Saving Bill currently going through the House of Commons - but it may not be enough in itself to convince Scots MP to vote for it. In the far North it would mean some children cycling to school in the dark and a proper harm-benefits risk assessment of this needs to be carried out.
The NOF clearly advocates physical activity as being crucial to a healthy lifestyle but is less certain that this alone prevents obesity. In a seminal paper in 2010 Terry Wilkin's Plymouth group published work that indicated that attempts to tackle childhood obesity by promoting physical activity have been largely unsuccessful. Judging by the press coverage accorded to the LSHTM paper, the notion of 365 days Summer Time in the future could lighten up what might be a very bleak 2011 Winter.