Childhood obesity is a national emergency, but we’re ignoring the root cause

17 May 2025, 17:46

Obesity clinics in the UK say they are seeing a disproportionate number of children from the most deprived areas, with a significant number having neurodivergent or other health conditions.

If that news alone was not concerning enough, some under-18s are being referred with body mass indexes (BMI) as high as 50, with 40 deemed to be "severely obese".

These are grim statistics, and ones that should trigger national alarm. Because obesity is not just a public health issue it’s an inequality issue. And it's getting worse.

As someone who has worked across elite sport, global fitness brands and health and wellbeing initiatives, I’ve seen the transformative impact that movement can have on lives. I’ve also seen how unequally that opportunity is distributed.

In my day job for an award-winning technology company, I work within a team that shares a common goal: to empower people to choose fitness and for it to be accessible to everyone.

But even we recognise that technology alone isn’t a solution on its own. We need a whole-society effort - and, speaking also as a mother of two, it must start with our children.

We are sleepwalking into a future where poor health becomes the default setting for millions of young people.

One in five children in England is obese by the time they leave primary school. In the most deprived communities, it's one in three. That’s not just a number, it's a future diabetes diagnosis, a shortened lifespan, and a diminished opportunity to thrive.

It’s also a policy problem. Successive governments have made the right noises but too often fallen short on real, transformative action. The 9pm 'junk' food advertising watershed has been delayed again and again. The sugar tax remains timid. Funding for school sport and physical activity programmes remains patchy and politicised.

We need leadership that sees investment in children’s health not as a cost, but as a generational imperative.

What we do know is that the earlier you form a habit of regular activity, the greater the long-term benefits. And right now, too many children are being locked out of that opportunity by postcode, poverty and policies that lack impact.

That’s why I believe in the power of partnerships, where innovation, data, and purpose converge and why we are looking forward to working with Team Super Schools, an organisation that brings Olympic and elite athletes into primary schools to inspire children to be active, dream big, and make movement part of their daily lives.

When a child hears directly from someone who’s competed on the world stage - often from backgrounds just like theirs - something powerful happens: they realise health and ambition aren't reserved for the few and that they can belong to everyone.

Imagine how many other elite athletes are out there in school playgrounds across Britain just waiting to be given a chance to shine.

Sir Mo Farah, who is working with us at WithU on our new running app URUNN launching this summer, has a personal story that is a perfect example of what’s possible when talent and opportunity intersect.

From arriving in the UK with limited English, to becoming one of the most celebrated distance runners in history, Sir Mo has always credited his PE teacher for spotting his potential and setting him on a new path.

Yet many schools, especially in deprived areas, are struggling to deliver the opportunities to access sports our children deserve.

PE is still too often the poor relation in the school curriculum, sidelined in favour of academic targets that mean little if a child is too unwell or unhappy to learn.

The benefits of access, encouragement and support with fitness activity go far beyond BMI; regular movement is linked to improved mental health, better academic performance, and even stronger social connections.

So, here’s my call to action: let’s stop treating childhood obesity as if it's an inevitability.

Let’s fund school sport properly, and let’s bring movement back into everyday life, not as an afterthought, but as a foundation.

And let’s stop putting the burden solely on parents, or schools, or kids themselves. This is a national issue, and it needs an urgent national response.

We have a choice. We can let this crisis continue to grow, or we can act now - with urgency, ambition and collaboration. Because if we don’t, we’re not just failing our children, we’re failing our future.

Kaleigh Frost is the Co-Founder and Chief Growth Officer of fitness technology company WithU.

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