Tragedy of children who are ‘abused’ by obesity
NHS staff are raising welfare concerns about children because they are so overweight.
Rising numbers of youngsters are being reported to child protection services because they are suffering from ‘complex’ obesity.
The number of children under the age of five being referred to weight-loss services is increasing.
The disclosure comes from a report by NHS Lothian but last night critics warned similar cases were likely to be found across the country, with health experts calling the situation ‘tragic’.
Across Scotland, 28 per cent of children are overweight or obese.
NHS Lothian is developing ‘closer links’ between child protection services and health workers who specialise in treating obesity because of the problem.
A report, submitted to the NHS Lothian board, says: ‘There has been an increase in referrals to the NHS Lothian Child Healthy Weight Programme and a number of concerning clinical cases and child protection factors relating to clinical obesity and health risks.
‘The Paediatric Weight Management service has seen a marked increase in referrals for the under-fives over the past 12 months. The service has also seen a marked increase in complex cases where they are raising child welfare concerns as a consequence of complex obesity, and as a result the service is now working more closely with Child Protection Services so that greater guidance and support is available to the service.’
The details are in the board’s latest Draft Local Delivery Plan, which sets out its challenges on obesity.
Last night Professor Alex McMahon, nurse director for NHS Lothian, said its Child Healthy Weight team helped families to ‘understand the importance of diet and exercise and work with them to make positive changes’.
He added: ‘The team take a holistic approach to caring for the children they work with and involve other health and care services where additional support is required, particularly in complex cases.
‘The importance of prevention and early intervention in reducing childhood obesity cannot be underestimated and continues to be a key focus of NHS Lothian’s children’s strategy.’
A spokesman for the board said that while the number of under-fives referred for treatment had risen, this was because the service was relatively new.
The disclosure has horrified child obesity experts, but this is not the first time Scottish children have been referred to welfare services over weight.
In 2011 a couple from Dundee had four of their seven children taken into care. Their 12-yearold son was 16st and his 11-yearold sister was 12st.
Tam Fry, spokesman for the National Obesity Forum, said: ‘It is truly tragic that there are cases of parents abusing their children in this way.
‘It is failure of a health system which pretends to monitor children’s welfare but in general does little to implement proper surveillance.’
Scottish Tory health spokesman Donald Cameron said: ‘Obesity is fast becoming Scotland’s most acute health problem and it is especially worrying to see the prevalence of it among our young people. The problems in NHS Lothian are not unique and it shows much more needs to be done to educate children and parents about healthy eating and an active lifestyle.’
NHS child weight management schemes typically offer one-to-one support with healthy eating and exercise.
A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘We are investing to support healthier lives, including investing £149million in free school meals for primary 1 to 3, £11.6million in supporting schools [to] meet PE commitments and £50million for Active Schools.
‘We are investing £12million over five years to 2017 on programmes to tackle the nation’s poor diet, including engaging with the food and drink industry on action to offer healthier choices, rebalance promotions and reformulate products, with a focus on reducing calories, salt, fats and added sugar.’
‘Failure of the health system’