Marks and Spencer to sell 'plus size' clothes to three-year-olds
Marks and Spencer has begun selling "plus-size" clothing for children as young as three in an attempt to dress a new generation with bulging waistlines.
The retailer said it began a trial of the "plus fit" range last week, in an attempt to meet consumer demand Photo: GETTYHealth campaigners said the decision by the High Street giant demonstrated the scale of the obesity epidemic affecting Britain's "overindulged" children, with one in four children now classed as obese or overweight by the time they start primary school.
The retailer said it began a trial of the "plus fit" range last week, in an attempt to meet consumer demand.
The garments are cut far more generously than the retailer's standard sizes, with almost two and a half inches extra around the waistline and hips for clothes for three-year-olds.
Tam Fry, from the National Obesity Forum, said: "It is an absolutely tragic illustration of the terrible obesity problem this country faces, and how early in life it starts. People used to dismiss obesity as a problem of the lower classes, but the decision by M&S shows just how widespread the problem is.
"This is about middle-class children being overindulged and carried everywhere in 4x4 cars, not to mention a generation of parents who haven't been taught domestic science, and don't know how to feed their children a healthy meal at the end of the day."
The range, billed as "cut more generously for larger sizes" employs styles such as "boot cut" trousers in an attempt to flatter the proportions of overweight children between the ages of three and 16.
A spokesman for M&S said the trial had began last week, and came in response to consumer demand and trends among its competitors. He said a decision about whether to introduce the range permanently would depend on customer response.
The retailer Next already stocks some "plus fit" clothes for young children, while BHS sparked a furore in 2005 when it introduced more generous sizes for children of school age.
A group of High Street retailers including Next and Asda have also embarked on a project to measure 6,000 children in an attempt to change regular clothing sizes.
Mr Fry urged the Government to act on research showing that weight gain in early childhood is likely to set a pattern for life.
Last year, British research found daughters of obese mothers were 10 times more likely to become obese, while sons of obese men were six times as likely to follow the same pattern.
The trend did not cross the gender divide, leading researchers to conclude that eating habits were set by the parent a child saw as their role model.
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Marks and Spencer to sell 'plus size' clothes to three-year-olds - Telegraph
via telegraph.co.uk
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