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Marie Lanen
Head of parenting section (baby, pregnancy, family)
in collaboration with
Andreas Werner (paediatrician)
It’s an alarming fact echoed by the Times that British children are getting smaller and smaller. In question ? Austerity policies, deterioration of diets and general living conditions. Doctissimo takes stock.
When we talk about inflation and soaring prices at the supermarket, we think first of all of our wallet. In the United Kingdom, the economic crisis reveals alarming effects on the health of children, and in particular their size.
British children are, on average, 2 cm shorter than French children
British boys measure, on average, 112.5cm at 5 years old, and little girls, 111.7cm. In comparison, in France, at the same age, a little boy measures, on average, 114.7 cm and a little girl, 113.6 cm. “From 1985, the slowdown in the average growth of 5-year-old children was gradual. Then, in the 2010s, something spectacular happened,” comments Professor Tim Cole, specialist in child growth rates at University College London in the columns of The Times. According to the expert “Height is an indicator of the general living conditions of a population. Factors such as diseases and infections, stress, nutrition, poverty and quality of sleep have a direct impact on the growth of children.” An opinion shared by Andreas Werner, pediatrician and president of the AFPA (French Association of Ambulatory Pediatrics): “Many studies have already shown a link between diet and growth in children. On the other hand, in France, we updated the growth curves 4 years ago. Not sure if this is the case in Great Britain, which can also explain these differences”.
Food, an important marker of inequality
According to Henry Dimbleby, former government food adviser “in Britain today, the way we eat is one of the clearest markers of inequality. It can be seen with the naked eye. A diet of cheap junk food has the distinction of being able to make you both overweight and undernourished. Children in the poorest regions of England are both larger and significantly shorter than those in the wealthier regions at the age of 10 or 11. This problem is important enough to have an impact on the international level. The ‘average’ 5-year-old in the UK is shorter than their peers in almost all other high-income countries.”
A “lack of investment” in areas related to youth
“Let’s not forget that in England there is no liberal pediatric follow-up, it is very problematic. Incidentally, infant mortality is high in the UK” also specifies our expert, pediatrician Andreas Werner. An essential point also raised by the English media The Guardian which evokes a lack of investment in the field of youth both in education and health.