Olympian’s shock at Dundee’s child obesity figures

Dundee is the worst city in Scotland for child obesity, according to new figures.

Almost one in five P1 pupils are overweight, obese or severely obese. Dundee’s record of 17.5% is fourth worst out of all council areas in Scotland, and the worst of all cities.

Dundee Olympic legend Liz McColgan branded the statistics “shocking,” and called for a change in attitude towards sports.

Ms McColgan said: “What we are getting is a bunch of very unfit kids at our schools and a lot of kids who won’t participate.

“We need to change the ethos of how children participate in sports we have to make it fun and we have to make it accessible.”

The statistics, published by Scotland’s information services division, show the BMI distribution in P1 pupils in 2011 to 2012.

Of the 1,436 children measured in Dundee, 17.5% were overweight, obese or severely obese, while 7% were obese or severely obese.