Overweight children often have thick parents

Especially children of parents with overweight are overweight, according to figures from Statistics Netherlands and RIVM. Time for action takes professor of nutrition and health Jaap Seidell.

A large part of the problem lies in his failure to food education. "Youth do not know enough about healthy eating Cooking find it difficult and that's not surprising:. More and more parents can not." The result is that they often choose the easy and unhealthy bite.

17 percent of children whose both parents are overweight, itself also suffers from obesity. Of children are overweight whose parents, has 6 percent overweight. This difference is partly explained by heredity.

"It's early error '

Yet Seidell think this group of parents also gives poor lifestyles. "It is often an early mistake. In such families have less babies breastfed, many sweet drinks, and they move less in later life."

Last year, 12 percent of children between 4 and 12 years are overweight. This percentage varies according to the CBS twenty years between 10 and 12. In four percent of children were seriously overweight.

The problem with the youth, according Seidell also persistent in neighboring countries."There appears to be very much needed to change the living and eating behavior of children. They live in a world that tempts you to unhealthy eating and drinking."

The new Health Monitor of CBS and RIVM shows that there is some risk groups: families with low income, non-western families and children growing up in the big city. These all have a higher risk of overweight and obesity.

At the lowest income group is nearly one in five children overweight. At the highest income group is slightly more than one in twenty. Children with non-western background are more often overweight than their native peers: 22 versus 9 percent. For obese (extremely overweight) it is 9 and 2 percent.

"Action at neighborhood level necessary '

These two categories are more common in cities like Utrecht, Rotterdam, The Hague and Amsterdam. Hence grow up here relatively more fat children. "It is therefore important that it is done at the community level action," says Seidell.

In Amsterdam are all special nurses used to help children with the problem. According to food expert is a good start. "The healthy choice must be the easy choice. Teach children to cook and maximize vending machines away."

By: NOS Editors: Photo: Reuters