People living side-by-side with Britain’s fattest children have slammed ‘lazy’ parents for letting their kids scoff junk food and play computer games.
Knowsley, in Merseyside, has been crowned as the town with the highest proportion of overweight and obese children.
A whopping 41.7 per cent of kids aged 10 to 11 are overweight or obese in the area, according to the latest NHS figures.
When MailOnline visited the town on a Friday night, locals queuing up at fast food restaurants blamed parents for making their kids fat.
One group of young adults with a baby in tow said they were not surprised by Knowsley’s obesity figures.
‘It’s terrible the way it’s going,’ one of the men said. ‘The kids round here are podgy. They can get food at the click of a button.
‘I think it’s the fault of the parents as much as the kids.’
A young woman added: ‘It’s also that there’s nowhere for the kids to go. No youth clubs or anything like that.
Beauty therapist Donna Garrity, 51, (pictured) blamed Knowsley’s fat children on kids playing computer games and parents not knowing how to cook
A long queue formed in ‘The Big Chippy’ in Knowsley when MailOnline visited the area
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‘Kids end up hanging around Maccy D’s car park because, well where else is there?’
A few miles down the road, in Prescott, cars were parked up on double yellow lines outside ‘The Big Chippy.’ Inside, a long queue had formed.
Beauty therapist Donna Garrity, 51, was collecting fish and chips as a Friday night treat for her 10-year-old son Luis, but said he was a healthy weight and she normally cooked from scratch, including ‘regular roast dinners’.
She blamed a lack of exercise and easy access to takeaways for the obesity crisis.
Donna said: ‘I don’t think children play out anymore like we used to. In my day you could because you felt safe.
‘Now youngsters are sat inside playing on computer games – and the weather doesn’t help at this time of year.
Locals blamed ‘lazy’ parents for making children chubby by letting them eat junk food
Retired teacher Tess Kelly, 77, said people don’t know how to cook any more, telling MailOnline: ‘It’s generational… they aren’t learning from their parents like we used to’
A grandfather in the area said the reason Knowsley was the obesity capital was threefold: ‘Easy food, laziness, and single parent families’
‘But there are a lot of fast-food places around here. It’s not cheap but it’s convenient and life is busy for everyone.
‘It’s not the children’s fault. These days there’s a lot more processed food and parents have lost the art of cooking.’
Retired teacher Tess Kelly, 77, also picked up a Friday night fish takeaway.
She agreed that people don’t know how to cook any more, telling MailOnline: ‘It’s generational… they aren’t learning from their parents like we used to.’
But she says she’d be loathe to pile the job onto teachers, who are already ‘stretched.’
A grandfather who popped in to collect his tea said the reason Knowsley was the obesity capital was threefold: ‘Easy food, laziness, and single parent families.’
‘It’s a real problem,’ he added.
Knowsley, in Merseyside, has been crowned as the town with the highest proportion of overweight and obese children
A whopping 41.7 per cent of kids aged 10 to 11 are overweight or obese in the area, according to the latest NHS figures
When MailOnline visited the area, teenagers were out at a retail park in nearby Kirkby, spinning wheelies on push bikes with no lights or tucking into burgers and chips at outside tables
A 47-year-old airport worker admitted: ‘Cooking… feels a bit like gardening – I’ll probably take it up properly when I’m in my 60s’
Cars were lined up at a local Taco Bell’s drive-thru on the Friday night MailOnline reporters went there
When MailOnline visited the area, teenagers were out at a retail park in nearby Kirkby, spinning wheelies on push bikes with no lights or tucking into burgers and chips at outside tables.
One 38-year-old mum, who works in the legal profession, just picked up a McDonalds for her seven-year-old.
She said: ‘For us it’s definitely a once a week treat.
‘But if takeouts weren’t so readily available then you would have to cook.
‘It would force people to be more organised.
‘For us it’s also something for us to do, somewhere for us to go together on Friday night. If there were youth clubs that might be one answer.’
Outside a takeaway called ‘Food for Thought’, airport worker Jane, 47, said: ‘The problem with kids at 10 and 11 is that they are too young to be out on their own.
‘Their parents won’t allow it, so they do stay in. I think that changes as they get into their early teens.
Locals have blamed the availability of takeaways on driving an increase in child obesity
Many fast food joints and takeaway restaurants can also be ordered on food delivery apps
Outside ‘The Big Chippy’, cars were parked on double yellow lines on a Friday night
One parent suggested many children will lose the weight from junk food binges when they grow up
‘My sons are 16 and 20 now and mad keen on the gym and staying in shape’.
‘Once children get into Year 7 I think things change. They do much more exercise and lose the weight they have gained.
‘Lockdown also had an effect – and perhaps some youngsters piled on the weight after Covid and are only just starting to lose it.’
She also believes the availability of takeaway food plays a big part.
‘Now it’s not just fast food restaurants. We also have Uber Eats so every kind of food can be delivered to your doorstep. It’s 24 hours – constant pizza and Maccy Ds.
Jane isn’t collecting a takeaway tonight but confesses she is only just learning to cook properly herself.
The 47-year-old said: ‘I’m only just beginning to be interested to be honest.
‘I’ve started cooking steak and things like that. But it feels a bit like gardening – I’ll probably take it up properly when I’m in my 60s.’
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: ‘Obesity robs children of the best start in life and sets them up for a lifetime of health problems.
‘This government is tackling the obesity crisis head-on by giving councils stronger powers to block new fast-food outlets near schools and cracking down on junk food adverts targeting children.
‘Through our 10 Year Health Plan, we will shift focus from sickness to prevention and meet our ambition of raising the healthiest generation of children ever.’
