Parents urged to shun buggies for kids’ health

October 18th, 2011 - 10:30 pm ICT by IANS  

London, Oct 18 (IANS) British parents are being advised to make their children walk for better health instead of letting them enjoy buggy rides.

To handle the growing obesity epidemic - which also costs the National Health Service (NHS) 4.2 billion pounds a year - politicians are urging parents to take responsibility for their youngsters’ weight and fitness, the Daily Mail reported.

One fourth of adults in Britain are now classed as clinically obese and almost one in five 10 to 11-year-olds are overweight.

Politicians are urging parents that the three-year-olds should be made to walk on short trips to curb the problem.

Anne Milton, the public health minister, said: “Encouraging children to walk is one way of getting the whole family to take more exercise.”

Nickie Aiken, Westminster council’s cabinet member for children, has advised parents to stop using strollers, which have become increasingly fashionable.

She said by taking steps such as encouraging their children to walk to school, to eat healthily or stop using buggies on short trips at the age of three, they can help ensure their children lead an active life.

A study commissioned earlier revealed that one in five children in London are now obese.

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