UNICEF recently reported that British Children have the poorest life of those in any of the developed countries. According to the Health Survey for England of 2004, obesity in children aged between two and ten rose from 9.9% in 1995 to 13.4% in 2004. A joint target was set between the Departments of Health, Education and Skills and Culture, Media and Sport to halt the year-on-year increases by 2010 but an MPs report has stated that there has been no concrete action taken since then, as reported by the BBC in January 2007 (see http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6294577.stm for details)
In the meantime, Scottish children are becoming overweight to such an extent that resultant diabetic conditions are now rampant enough to have been labelled an ‘epidemic’ by doctors, as reported on BBC Scotland and in The Scotsman in March 2007 (see The Scotsman's website for the article at http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/health.cfm?id=343582007)
The UNICEF report looked at 40 indicators over six categories: material well-being, family and peer relationships, health and safety, behaviour and risks, and children's own sense of well-being. The only category where the UK didn’t appear in the bottom third was Health and Safety.
UNICEF's report, Report Card 7, Child Poverty in Perspective: An Overview of Child Well-being in Rich Countries, can be found and downloaded at http://www.unicef.org.uk/publications/pub_detail.asp?pub_id=124
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