As obesity rates in England continue to grow, health leaders are calling for an emergency taskforce to be set up to tackle childhood obesity.
The 2012 Health Survey for England, shows that 14% of children aged two to 15 were obese with another 28% classed as overweight or obese. Those aged 11 to 15 were more likely to be obese with one in five children placed in that category. In children aged two to 10, 10% of both boys and girls were obese. 
According to the BBC, health leaders have written an open letter to the chief medical officer for England, Prof Dame Sally Davies, warning that ‘an entire generation is being destroyed by a diet of junk food and sugary drinks’.
Making matters worse, says a Sheffield GP, Dr Nigel Mathers, is a culture of denial among many of his patients.
“Many parents don’t recognise their children are obese because many of them are obese themselves.
“Obesity is the new normal and we need a unified approach to manage it.”
The situation is worrying as GPs say they are dealing with a generation of patients who may die before their parents. And, because few people associate weight with cancer, children are growing up with a range of health problems that could develop into serious lifelong illnesses, such as Type 2 diabetes.
Dr Helen Stokes-Lampard from the Royal College of GPs said: “These kids are going to turn into larger and larger adults, which means they are at much higher risk of serious heart disease, cancers, strokes, as they get older.” She added it was worrying that some of these children, children as young as seven, were developing diabetes of the sort associated with increased weight in middle age.
However, while health leaders discuss this problem, hypnotherapy has a proven track record in helping people manage their weight through better eating.
The UK’s leading not-for-profit professional hypnotherapy association, the National Council for Hypnotherapy (NCH), represents over 1,800 qualified hypnotherapists who are trained and experienced in dealing with weight management issues. Managing weight loss is one of the most effective results of hypnotherapy.
Rather than just reducing calories that someone is likely to put on again in the longer term, hypnosis gets the client in touch with the reasons they unconsciously eat.
The simple fact of the matter is losing weight is easy, says the NCH’s marketing director Paul Howard. The difficult part, he adds, is changing the behaviours that created the weight gain in the beginning and sabotages any future attempts to lose weight and stay a healthy and attractive size.
“The big difference is that hypnotherapy creates that behavioural change that diets and fancy eating regimes don’t. Using hypnotherapy for weight loss helps you to return to a sensible way of eating without the heartache and effort normally associated with losing weight and dieting.”
If you are determined to lose weight or you are worried about your child’s weight, visit a hypnotherapist near you by using the NCH directory. On your first visit, the therapist will ask about when you eat, what you eat, what triggers you to reach for food when you are not hungry, or how often you unconsciously polish off a packet of biscuits and avoid doing exercise.
They will then put together a programme of treatment that will motivate you to exercise more and eat less. Hypnotherapy for weight loss is about changing your habit with food for the rest of your life. Unlike crash diets it changes the root of your compulsive eating or lack of interest in exercise so you are free to enjoy the rest of your life – eating and exercising sensibly without having to think about it.
So with nearly one-third of children aged two to 15 classed as overweight or obese and the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health estimating that the problem is costing the NHS around £5.1bn a year, it is time we took matters into our own hands and tackled obesity.
