Marks & Spencer have responded to Britain's increasing childhood obesity epidemic by stocking plus sized school uniforms for tots as young as three.
The retailer has been 'trialling' the uniforms in response to customer demand, a spokesman said. Garments available include school trousers and blazers for four-year-olds with waistbands of 23 inches – the size that would normally be found on a garment for an eight-year-old child.
Girls' clothes in an equivalent adult size 18 are also being stocked.
Sales of the 'Plus Fit Range' are said to have been overwhelming since its launch last week, and with one in four children being classed 'overweight' by the time they start school, they look set to soar further ahead of the new school term.
In a statement to the press, Tam Fry, of the National Obesity Forum, said: 'The fact that M&S has launched this range indicates the severity of the obesity problem. 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.'
She added that it should come as a 'wake up call' to parents.
What do you think?
Should stores stock outsized school uniform, or does it 'normalise' the problem of obesity?