Over a third of Scottish boys are overweight

Published on 29/09/2009 22:23

MORE than a third of boys are now overweight, while a majority of adults in Scotland weigh too much, including more than two-thirds of men.

A Scottish health survey found that 36.1 per cent of boys aged between two and 15 were overweight last year, up from 32.4 per cent five years ago and 27.8 per cent ten years ago. No significant changes occurred in girls in the same age group.

The majority of adults aged 16 and over were overweight, including obese, in 2008. For men, the figure was 68.5 per cent and for women it was 61.8 per cent. Of these, 26 per cent of men and 27.5 per cent of women are obese.

Health secretary Nicola Sturgeon said more action was needed. "While it is encouraging that the rate of increase in obesity among children is slowing, tackling obesity remains a top priority."

Elsewhere, researchers warned putting on weight into middle age cuts the chance of living a long and healthy life by about 80 per cent, according to a study.

Researchers from Harvard School of Public Health in Boston and the University of Warwick in Coventry analysed data gathered since 1976 from more than 17,000 female nurses in 11 US states.

They found that women who were obese in middle age had 79 per cent lower odds of healthy survival, compared with those whose weight was kept at a healthy level.