FEEDING OUR KIDS TO DEATH
200 kids a week treated for obesity Diabetes figures up 25% in FOUR years
HOSPITAL doctors are seeing record numbers of youngsters who are dangerously fat.
New statistics show more than 200 children and young people are treated every week for being overweight.
The nation’s growing obesity epidemic is laid bare by the 11,375 appointments last year for people under 20.
The figure, from NHS Digital, has almost tripled since 2009 and is rising by about 15% every year.
About one in every 12 of these hospital sessions is for kids so obese that medics have recorded their weight as being their primary health problem.
In the other cases, doctors have treated youngsters for another condition but recorded in their notes that their weight is a factor in their overall health.
Commonly these children are suffering from ailments such as sleep disorders, stomach aches, breathing issues and joint problems – all conditions that could have been triggered by their weight problems.
Experts say the figures are the “canary in the cage” of the nation’s obesity timebomb, with ailments like cancer, heart disease and diabetes all linked to a person’s weight.
Thousands end up in hospital for illnesses that could have been prevented if they had maintained a healthy weight.
Statistics show many youngsters being treated for health problems associated with their weight could face a future in and out of hospital.
The childhood obesity crisis is now “so grave” that in some areas more than half of the children are overweight when they leave primary school.
Many youngsters eat up to 500 calories over the recommended daily amount – equivalent to an extra meal.
Separate figures also show that the number of children and teenagers with type 2 diabetes – a condition more typically associated with middle age – has soared by 25% in just four years.
Tam Fry, from the National Obesity Forum, said: “The levels of childhood obesity are bad enough but the rise of children acquiring Type 2 diabetes should be even more concerning.
“The thought that children are at risk of having limbs amputated or going blind in early adulthood as a result of this disease should horrify a government that is ultimately responsible for the health of the nation.”