Roughly 30 percent of American children are overweight or obese, according to studies; but the plaguing epidemic doesn’t stop there...

Courtesy of new estimates, about half a million children in Europe are suffering classic middle-aged health problems because they are too fat. In an analysis presented at the European Congress on Obesity, experts reported that metabolic syndrome--a combination of dangerous conditions such as diabetes, raised cholesterol and high blood pressure--is progressively being found in juxtaposition with childhood obesity.

Worse, experts estimated that between 2,000 and 10,000 children in Europe already have the type of diabetes that is typically diagnosed in middle-aged adults. (However, those numbers merely scratch the surface of the more than 2 million children affected by metabolic syndrome in the United States.)

Yet American and European children are not the only ones suffering:

• In Britain, one in five children is overweight or obese.
• The figure rises to 30 percent of children in Spain.
• And a whopping 36 percent of children in Italy have weight problems.

How does Europe plan to curb their child obesity problem?

For starters, the European Union commissioner for health and consumer protection drew out plans for a code of conduct rein in the marketing of unhealthy food to children.

What’s more, a new strategy on diet and exercise will be created before the end of 2005 and public discussion with the food industry, anti-obesity activists and others will assist in shaping a final plan by the end of 2006.

Newsday June 1, 2005