Parents need to show their kids ‘tough love’ to stop them gorging on so many snacks and ‘becoming obese,’ warns NHS chief
PARENTS need to show their kids “tough love” to stop them gorging, the NHS chief has said.
Simon Stevens warns unless “we take back control of our own health” another 200,000 will get type 2 diabetes next year.
And he says mums and dads must protect their children by cutting out fizzy drinks and junk food from their diet.
The warning comes as Mr Stevens today reveals plans to expand a scheme to help high-risk Brits lose weight.
The NHS is to spend £15million giving 50,000 kids healthy eating advice, personal trainers and free exercise classes over the next 12 months.
Until now, only 5,000 have taken part in pilot schemes.
Experts claim slimming by a few pounds can slash the diabetes risk by up to 60 per cent.
More than four million are living with the condition — with the majority of cases triggered by obesity. It costs the NHS £10billion a year to treat and is one of the leading causes of blindness and amputations.
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Mr Stevens, NHS England chief executive, said: “The NHS is upping its game on prevention, helping 50,000 high risk individuals stave off diabetes.”
Two in three adults are now overweight or obese.
And most parents of fat kids are in denial about how tubby their children really are.
Mr Stevens said: “We’re going to need a bit more ‘tough love’ so that every day of the year isn’t a Christmas-like splurge on supersized fizzy drinks and junk food.
“Now’s the time of year to think about what we want for our children in the year ahead.”
An extra £45million will also be spent boosting health among diabetics, with more specialist nurses and probes into how new tech can improve well-being.
Duncan Selbie, Chief Executive of PHE, said: “We should all be worried that the number of people with Type 2 diabetes is still on the rise. Preventing it is one of the big health challenges of our time.
“We need to get the message across that diabetes is not an inevitable part of ageing and we can control what happens to our health.
“Making changes to our diets, especially cutting down on snacks high in sugar and saturated fat, and taking regular exercise is often all people need to do to avoid potentially devastating consequences to their long term health.”
Prof Jonathan Valabhji, of NHS England, said: “Diabetes prevention and patient care is a top priority for the NHS.”