If we want to tackle obesity we should just let children play - Ismail Mulla

We’d then get onto our bicycles and pedal around until the sun set.

I still distinctly remember the telling offs we would get from parents for not being home in time for tea. In fact, dinner times were a distraction from the important activity of the day - play.

But drive around any town or city and you see that these playing fields are no longer occupied with little ones daring to dream. Instead the few remaining patches of grass that remain undeveloped on are often left neglected, the grass too long to even walk on, never mind kick a football around. And if the children are lucky enough to find a field where the grass has been cut it’s most likely been pockmarked with dog foul.

As for playing out on the street, good luck finding space amongst the sea of parked cars on the road, not to mention the traffic and the dangers that presents.

But one of the biggest changes society has seen is the mobile phone. Whenever I venture out to the supermarket, I see children sitting in trolleys fixated by a screen. If parents take this opioid away, the tantrums follow. A whole world is just passing by these kids. A world that could unleash their imagination. No wonder they have no interest in physical play.

I hazard a guess that when many of these children return home they will once again become glued to the screen - whether that is a video streaming site or a computer game. Some are even being introduced to social media at a very young age.

It is little wonder that we are heading towards a public health crisis. The number of obese children and adults in the UK will rise substantially by 2050 – and by more than half in some age groups.

A comprehensive global analysis predicts that children as young as five will be much more likely to be obese in the coming decades.

For children aged five to 14, obesity will rise from 12 per cent of girls in 2021 to 18.4 per cent in 2050, and from 9.9 per cent to 15.5 per cent in boys over the same period. Within this age group, the rise among five to nine-year-old girls will be from 12.6 per cent to 19.3 per cent, and from 9.8 per cent to 15.3 per cent among boys.

Meanwhile, in 10 to 14-year-olds, the rise is from 11.3 per cent to 17.5 per cent in girls, and from 10 per cent to 15.7 per cent in boys.

Of course, this won’t just be down to the lack of physical activity. There’s a fried chicken shop on every street corner in some areas. However, more sedentary lifestyles, especially amongst the young, are going to have repercussions in the future for society.

We already have an aging population, the last thing we need is to add to the strain on the NHS with an unhealthy one.

The population is only becoming unhealthier? More recent generations are gaining weight faster than previous ones and obesity is occurring earlier, increasing the risk of type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease and cancer at younger ages, experts say.

There is also a danger that we could end up with health inequalities. Council run sports and leisure centres are shutting down, leaving expensive private clubs as the only option for many.

I remember as children when we’d be given a little pocket money that we could then spend on a day at the swimming baths. Unfortunately, that has now been closed as a result of council cutbacks.

Rather than taking parental responsibility, like with a lot of other aspects of childcare, many parents seek the shortcut. And new weight loss injections will be seen as the cure to the ills of obesity.

Whether they work or don’t work, the fact still remains that children are missing out on an important part of childhood, which is learning to play.

It’s not just about physical health but also mental wellbeing. Is it any surprise that so many young children are having issues with their mental health?

The country will be better off if we just let children play.