Obese children of 10 having hip replacements

Surgeons are performing hip replacements on children as young as 10 because of the damage caused by obesity, new figures show. In the past three years, the number of obese people needing joint replacements has risen by almost 60 per cent, many of them young people.

SURGEONS are performing hip replacements on children as young as 10 because of the damage caused by obesity, new figures show.

In the past three years, the total number of obese people needing joint replacements has risen by almost 60per cent to more than 37,000.

But much of the rise has been driven by young adults and people in middle age who require surgery far earlier than ever before because of the strain on their joints caused by excess weight.

According to statistics from NHS Digital, 10 children and teenagers aged 10 to 19 have had hip replacements due to excess weight since 2014. Two more obese children had knee replacements.

In addition, 86 people in their 20s had hip replacements and 11 had new knees due to weight-related damage.

Professor Philip James, past president of the World Obesity Federation, told The Sunday Express: “It is shocking. These figures also show doctors and surgeons are now waking up to the burden of obesity, which is steadily rising.” He added: “I predict this problem will continue to escalate. Obesity rates are rising and the first thing that develops is back and joint pain.

“The wear and tear on joints from obesity is phenomenal. The orthopaedic

‘These figures show doctors and surgeons are waking up to the burden of obesity, which is steadily rising’

world has to rethink how to cope with increased numbers of patients, including younger patients, who require hip or knee replacements.”

Research by the University of Liverpool earlier this year found that obese children were at high risk of a painful hip disease called slipped capital femoral epiphysis (SCFE). Daniel Perry, a consultant orthopaedic surgeon at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool, said: “Obesity is the primary risk factor. Around 500 adolescents in the UK suffer from this problem every year, with the majority of them being overweight or obese.

“All children affected by SCFE require prompt surgery to stabilise the hip with a screw. In some cases the hip may be so damaged that a hip replacement becomes necessary soon after the primary surgery, with many more gradually worsening, necessitating a hip replacement early in adulthood.”

Recent NHS data showed that 9.6 per cent of children were dangerously overweight by the time they started school. By the time children reached the ages of 10 and 11, 20per cent were obese, the statistics for 2016-17 showed.

Tam Fry, chairman of the National Obesity Forum, said: “This is tragic. The cost of the obesity epidemic could bankrupt the NHS.”

Experts are so concerned about the rise in people needing joint replacements that a government-funded study has been launched.