Introduction
Overweight and obesity have become major preventable health challenges around the
globe. In Europe, at least 135 million are affected by this ‘epidemic’ as described by the
International Obesity Task Force [IOTF] (2002). In particular, in the UK the prevalence of
obesity has more than doubled in the last 25 years and nearly a quarter of adults are now
obese (Foresight Report 2007). In France, obesity levels are around 18% (Viguie et al.
2002, Lobstein and Frelut 2003) although there are differences between the regions.
Differences in the obesity levels between children in the UK and children in France have
also been documented, with the UK government figures showing that around 32% of
children aged 2–15-year-olds are overweight or obese (Foresight Report 2007), whereas
in France approximately 17% of children are overweight or obese (Summerbell 2009).
Recent studies have shown that overweight children are at increased risk of being
overweight adults (Power et al. 1998, Hardy et al. 2004) with significant signs of