‘We have 10-year-olds with things that would have been unheard of a few decades ago’
CHILDREN are increasingly being treated for diseases normally seen in older adults, according to a top medic.
Consultant endocrinologist Senthil Senniappan revealed there are now referrals for issues including diabetes and liver problems in minors, which was “unheard of a few decades ago”.
Dr Senniappan is team leader at the Complications from Excess Weight clinic at Liverpool’s Alder Hey Children’s Hospital.
And he said the average weight of a child he sees is 19 stone
(120kg).
He said: “We have 10-year-olds getting diagnosed with diabetes, sleep apnoea, needing breathing support at home.
“We have patients with severe liver issues.
This is becoming more and more common.”
The doctor noted that anxiety and depression are also challenges for many of his patients.
Alder Hey’s EWC is among more than 20 such clinics nationwide, with more in the pipeline.
Opening its doors in 2021, its medics and psychologists now treat around 200 youngsters at a time.
But 100 others are on the waiting list to be seen and the hospital is now looking to provide extra help.
One mother who takes her autistic daughter Naomi (not her real name) to the EWC said she craved fatty and sugary foods because her body produced too much cortisol.
The mum said: “Her heart health was poor, she had a fatty liver, her cholesterol was high, I don’t think her kidneys were working properly so inside she wasn’t doing very well.”
Naomi is now on medication to suppress the cravings.
Her mother added: “She’s done great. She feels fuller when she’s eating so eats a lot less. All her health problems – they’re all fine. On the normal range now.”
She urged people not to be “judgmental” if they saw an overweight child, saying she always cooked from scratch and adding: “[People] just think ‘Oh, they over-eat or binge-eat or their parents don’t feed them properly’, but that’s not always the case.”
Dr Senniappan said that around a third of the children who come to his clinic are on the autism spectrum.
Another 10 to 15% have ADHD or a learning difficulty.
Nearly one in four children aged 10 and 11 in Britain are classed as living with obesity – with figures even higher in parts of the North-West – and the problem is widespread throughout society.
Poverty is at the root of many children’s weight struggles, given that so many families are low-income and lack access to healthy food and exercise, Dr Senniappan observed.
He added that some even struggled to afford the transport needed to get to the clinic.