Edinburgh’s Parents Get the Message to Look After Their Kids’ Health

After hearing of the alarming expansion of kids’ waistbands in the Scottish capital – about one in 10 of its Primary 1 schoolchildren is now considered clinically obese, according to the NHS National Services Scotland – we’ve placed our latest billboard at Crewe Toll, in Edinburgh, in the hopes that residents will take stock of the city’s ballooning childhood obesity problem. The eye-catching advert reads, “Feeding Kids Meat Is Child Abuse. Fight the Fat. Go Veg”.

Large numbers of British children are now suffering the ills of high-calorie, meat-rich diets. Medical professionals are seeing evidence of atheroma, angina and even heart attacks in children, and in 2007, the World Cancer Research Fund recommended that children should not be fed processed meat – including ham, sausage and bacon – for health reasons. And eating meat isn’t just bad news for kids and adults – it also means killing animals. Hundreds of millions of land animals and countless fish are killed for their flesh every year in the UK, and many are raised on filthy, crowded factory farms, rarely, if ever, smelling fresh air or feeling the warmth of the sun on their backs until the day they are sent off to slaughter.

“The potential for damage from a meat-heavy diet is like a ticking time bomb in kids”, says our special projects coordinator, Abi Izzard. “In addition to causing immeasurable suffering to millions of animals, getting kids addicted to chicken, beef and other types of meat condemns an entire generation to a future of health problems.”

Edinburgh has a big problem, and with obesity rates at such a high, parents should be aware that it is not just fizzy drinks and crisps – but also greasy bangers and burgers – they need to worry about.

Order a free copy of our vegetarian/vegan starter kit today to get your kids or friends and family started on the right track.