Letting your child become obese is a form of child abuse, fitness magnate warns.
CHILDHOOD obesity is a form of child abuse, and immediate action must be taken to stop children suffering irreparable harm, according to the founder of the world’s only global personal training business.
Nick Mitchell, who is CEO of Ultimate Performance and widely recognized as the world’s best personal trainer, has overseen the weight loss journeys of more than 25,000 people across the globe.
He also personally trained Hollywood actor Glen Powell for his role starring alongside Tom Cruise in the blockbuster hit Top Gun: Maverick.
Nick is extremely passionate about improving the health and well-being of the nation, and to mark National Childhood Obesity Week (4-10 July), Nick is speaking out about the urgent need to tackle the childhood obesity epidemic in the UK.
Nick has also condemned the ‘Health at Every Size’ movement, which he believes is stifling the need for a societal conversation about how to tackle childhood obesity. This, Nick believes, is so serious a problem that it should be treated like nicotine, alcohol or drug abuse, and must urgently be addressed.
Although acknowledging this is a very complicated and sensitive problem, Nick blames the epidemic on the overabundance of cheap junk food and the emergence of the ‘YouTube Generation’, where it has become the norm for children to spend hours watching YouTube, rather than playing outside and understanding the importance of eating healthily.
He also believes we have “lost a battle we did not know we were fighting”, which has pitted children’s health against ‘Big Food’ manufacturers.
This, Nick says, is a “perfect storm” that is giving children the “very worst possible start in life” and putting them at risk of developing serious co-morbidities such as heart disease, high blood pressure and infertility. Nick describes the fact that some obese 12-year-olds have already developed type 2 diabetes as “horrendous”.
Nick believes that from a public health policy perspective, the approach to tackling childhood obesity is failing and that something must change.
He is calling for the Government to consider subsidies for healthier food, and higher taxes on junk food, to make it easier for parents – particularly in the current economic climate - to make good decisions when buying food. He has also called for a revamp of physical education in schools, starting at primary school level, believing that a greater investment in sport and physical education will teach young children the joy of learning to move their bodies and exercise.
He also believes parents should “lead by example” by looking after their own health, and taking simple, practical steps such as swapping sugary breakfast cereals and processed snacks for healthier alternatives such as lean proteins, vegetables, and fruit, and taking their children out for regular walks.
“Childhood obesity is like watching a car crash in slow motion. It is a tremendously complex subject, but my view is that we should have zero tolerance for childhood obesity. I view childhood obesity as a version of child abuse.
“We live in what’s called a ‘snowflake’ generation. Everyone wants to be uber-woke and virtue signal. And we have a shrill minority on platforms like Twitter where they celebrate victimhood. No-one wants to call this out.
“But, at heart, if your child is obese and you are doing nothing about it, how is that any different from seeing your child smoke cigarettes and doing nothing about it? If you allowed your 12-year-old child to smoke cigarettes, that would be considered child abuse. If your 12-year-old child is downing six cans of lager every night, that would be considered child abuse and the authorities would come in.
“Studies have now proven categorically that the obese have cognitive decline faster than anyone else. Your brain does not function as well when you are obese. And we also know that children are sponges for learning. So, if your child is obese, what start are you giving your child?
“I do have to caveat this. I know there will be parents out there who are at their wit’s end, whose child may be eating 10 packets of crisps a day and they don’t know what to do. And they might listen to my words and go: ‘How dare this person sit on his high horse and pontificate and claim I’m abusing my child. I love my child.’ And I would agree with them. This is a very difficult and sensitive subject, and no-one wants their child to be obese. We should not condemn someone for being obese. We should treat it as a medical condition. And we should deal with it compassionately.
“But it has become a tough nut to crack because we’ve built a society where everyone is walking on eggshells. No-one wants to cause offense. But I’m afraid we need to have these difficult conversations. There is a movement that talks about ‘fat acceptance.’ If you’re going to have ‘fat acceptance’, should we have a ‘smoking acceptance’? Netflix puts a trigger warning on its TV shows when people smoke. So, if smoking is triggering, should there be a trigger warning when you see an obese child on TV? Because that child is ill. But you can’t say that for fear of offending people. And that is cowardice, plain and simple. And it’s stopping society having a very important conversation about how to tackle childhood obesity.
“And that is the reason I am using inflammatory language, because we do need to start the conversation about childhood obesity. People are so frightened to tell the truth about childhood obesity because they’re frightened of causing offence. And, for me, I’d far rather cause offense and help someone, than not cause offence and help nobody.”
For more information, please contact Stefan Jarmolowicz, PR Manager at Ultimate Performance, on 07710023998 or email stefan.jarmolowicz@upfitness.com
ABOUT NICK MITCHELL
• Nick Mitchell is an Amazon best-selling author, writer, fitness expert, founder and Global CEO of the world’s leading personal training business, Ultimate Performance (U.P.).
• He is widely recognised as one of the world’s foremost personal trainers and body composition experts. He has been hailed as “London’s Best Personal Trainer” by TimeOut London.
• Nick is the son of a self-made millionaire from Yorkshire. He attended Bradford Grammar School and has degrees in both English and Law.
• He started as a Barrister in the City of London, before he built and sold a headhunting company.
• His passion for fitness and bodybuilding, inculcated as teenager after being inspired by Arnold Schwarzenegger, saw Nick become a personal trainer in his early 30s. He was too ashamed to tell his parents...who only found out when he got his first feature in Men's Health.
• Nick launched the U.P. business in the City of London in 2009, and it has now expanded operations across four continents, with an ever-evolving team of 300 elite personal trainers.
• Nick is the author of a number of best-selling books including 12 Week Body Plan, Your Ultimate Body Transformation Plan, Principles of Muscle Building Program Design, and most recently, Body Transformation Meal Plan Design.
• He is now focused on spearheading the expansion of the U.P. business across North America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.
ABOUT ULTIMATE PERFORMANCE
• Ultimate Performance (U.P.) was founded in 2009 in London by world-leading personal trainer Nick Mitchell.
• U.P. have forged a reputation as the world’s foremost body transformation experts delivering exceptional client results under the mantra ‘maximum results, minimum time’.
• The business has grown to become the world’s only truly international personal training company, with 22 private personal training facilities across the globe, including London, Liverpool, Leeds, Manchester, Cheshire, Los Angeles, Hong Kong, Dubai, Singapore, Sydney, Amsterdam, Marbella and Mumbai.
• Now, U.P. boasts a team of more than 300 elite personal trainers across the global business, and has worked with more than 25,000 clients across the world to achieve unrivalled body composition transformations. The average time for clients to achieve their results is just 2.7 hours a week.
• Men’s Fitness magazine describes UP as: ‘The Goldman Sachs, Real Madrid and Apple of Personal Training. They’re that far ahead of the field.’
• Other notable U.P. clients include Olivia Colman, Kevin McHale, Lamorne Morris and Dustin Hoffman.
• The company prides itself on a results-driven training and nutrition methodology across its Personal Training, Group Training and Online Personal Training packages to optimise health, fitness and body composition.
