Pizzas and pies may have to shrink to curb obesity in children, UK says

Makers of pizzas, ready meals and savoury snacks could be forced to shrink them under UK government proposals to reduce childhood obesity, which figures have revealed has increased by more than a third across England since 2006.

The UK government body Public Health England is meeting major food businesses to discuss how to achieve a 20 per cent calorie reduction in foods popular among children by 2024, as pressure on the industry to create healthier products grows.

The proposals could limit pizzas and savoury pies to 928 and 695 calories respectively, with health officials recommending parents buy healthier snacks for their children – ideally aiming for a 400-600-600 calorie split across breakfast, lunch and an evening meal.

“Children and adults routinely eat too many calories and it’s why we’ve seen severe obesity in 10- to 11-year-olds at an all-time high,” says Dr Alison Tedstone, the chief nutritionist at Public Health England. “These are early days in the calorie-reduction programme but the food industry has a responsibility to act. We hope to see early commitment from the food industry … translated into real action, sooner rather than later.”

The proposals followed the publication of figures from the National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP) on Thursday that showed severe obesity among 10- to 11-year-olds in the UK has reached its highest ever level, 4.2 per cent, while 20.1 per cent of that age group are obese. In Hong Kong in 2016-17, 17.6 per cent of primary-school children and 19.9 per cent of secondary-school children were classed as overweight or obese, according to government figures.