children will become obese adults, putting strain on the NHS

Schools should rigorously test pupils’ fitness in a bid to diffuse Britain’s obesity timebomb, experts say.

They warn that primary school pupils - who they name ‘Generation Inactive’ - are spending longer than ever before hunched over mobile phones and computer games.

Only half of British seven-year-olds have the recommended 60 minutes of physical activity a day, according to health body UK Active.

In a report today, the charity calls for primary schools to test their pupils’ fitness in the same way as they examine subjects such as maths and English.

Health body UK Active is calling for primary schools to test their pupils’ fitness in the same way as they examine subjects such as maths and English, to diffuse Britain's 'obesity timebomb' (file photo)

Just 43 per cent of schools currently record the length of time children actually spend being physically active in PE lessons, it said.

And it warned that today’s sedentary children will become the obese adults of the future - posing a massive burden on the NHS.

The report said: ‘From an economic perspective, generation inactive will be huge drain on public resources and will contribute to a situation that is simply not sustainable for the future of the UK’s National Health Service.

‘This is a ticking time bomb under the shared pledges of all political parties to maintain a NHS free at the point of need.’

The report authors said that while it would be considered unacceptable for pupils to leave primary school without their parents and teachers having a basic understanding of their ability in maths and English, it is normal for them to have no idea of their fitness levels.

Currently, schools in England aim to provide two hours of PE or sport a week for pupils aged five to 16, but the report said that many still fail to achieve even that.

Only half of British seven-year-olds have the recommended 60 minutes of physical activity a day, according to UK Active

It set out a series of recommendations including that headteachers adopt a ‘whole day’ approach to physical activity by ingraining it into the entire school day.

Child health expert Professor Sir Al Aynsley-Green, of University College London, wrote in the foreword to the report: ‘From the distractions of new and easily accessible technology to safety concerns about playing outdoors, the barriers to the essential daily physical activity needed to keep children healthy and happy seem far more pronounced for today’s children than they were for my generation.

GIVE CHILDREN FREE SCHOOL MEALS TO TACKLE OBESITY - MPs The Government should give all children free school meals in a bid to tackle the obesity epidemic, according to the All-Party Parliamentary Group on A Fit and Healthy Childhood. Its report, Food In School and the Teaching of Food, demands that the Universal Infant Free School Meal (UIFSM) scheme is rolled out to children ‘throughout their school life’. However, a national audit must be launched into the equipment and facilities available in schools as some no longer have kitchens. Its other recommendations include a national initiative to encourage role models such as sports stars to promote healthy eating and a campaign to recruit more school nurses. A national ethic recipe database should also be launched to help caterers prepare healthy curries and other dishes. The report says: ‘In order to devise meal choices high in nutritional content that are also compatible with diverse community eating preferences, comprehensive information is needed about food composition data, portion sizes and recipe information for ethnic foods.’ Advertisement

‘Now more than ever it’s important to know how active our kids are.’

Some 10 per cent of British children are obese when they start primary school - a figure that has grown to 20 per cent by the time they leave.

Simon Stevens, chief executive of NHS England, said earlier this month that parents had to take responsibility for the statistic.

‘As a society, as parents, we are doing something terribly wrong in terms of the way in which we are supporting and bringing up the next generation,’ he said.

‘And we know what that will mean - that will mean a rising tide of avoidable type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease and cancer, because we now know that one in five cancers are caused by obesity, not to mention blindness and amputations.’

Professor Russell Viner of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, welcomed today’s report.

He said: ‘A sedentary lifestyle doesn’t just mean a child could be overweight, it is an issue that can affect a child’s entire life, from poor concentration levels impacting on life chances post school, and increased risk of emotional and well-being issues like depression, right through to developing life-long medical conditions like type two diabetes - all of which can have dire consequences if not managed properly.’