Children as young as three treated for obesity

Children as young as three are being treated for obesity at specialist clinics in Kent and Sussex.

The Complications from Excess Weight (CEW) clinic at Darent Valley Hospital in Dartford has seen 72 children since it opened in 2022.

A service in Brighton run by University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust, which opened in March 2022, has treated 58 patients.

Dr Alok Gupta, clinical lead at the Darent Valley clinic, said the issue "won't go away" and was impacting "the emotional health and the quality of life of these children".

Dr Alok Gupta says obesity is leading to a very unhealthy adult population

One of 30 pilot centres across the country, it is the only specialist service of its kind for children in Kent and clinicians say they are seeing conditions usually diagnosed in adults.

Dr Gupta said: “It also affects the emotional health and the quality of life of these children and young people, but this won’t go away in children."

"We are producing a very unhealthy adult population as a country,” he added.

The team - made up of paediatricians, dieticians and psychologists - is mainly treating teenagers, although some patients are as young as three years old.

They say the majority are being treated for lifestyle-related weight problems.

Dr Sapna Singh, a consultant paediatrician, said one of the complications of obesity is children with obstructive sleep apnoea.

“Some children have problems with breathing at night, which stops enough oxygen going to the brain,” she said.

Dr Sapna Singh says some children have conditions that adults suffer from, including type two diabetes.

Sukhvinder Kaur, a specialist dietitian at the unit, said they work with the children’s family to improve their diet and lifestyle at home.

“It might be just getting them to change and eat healthy foods, then once they have achieved that, you might give them agreed portions for different meals," she said.

Some children are given meal plans with calories counted.

Ms Kaur said cost, a family's cooking skills and their access to equipment were also important factors to consider.

One teenage patient wrote to staff at the clinic about their experience.

“I weighed over 17 stone (109kg) and my BMI was 39.8. I struggled finding clothes that I liked and I had no confidence and I hated my body,” they said.

They have been attending the clinic for 20 weeks and have lost 4 stone (25kg), bringing their weight down to 13 stone (127kg).

“What I love the most is that people always notice and compliment my weight loss," they said.

Dietitian Sukhvinder Kaur says they support the whole family, not just the overweight child

The latest statistics from the child measurement programme in schools found 23% of Medway children in Year Six (aged 10 and 11) were living with obesity.

The figure was 21% in Kent, 19% in East Sussex, 18% in West Sussex, 17% in Brighton and Hove and nearly 13% in Surrey.

Academy chains like the Golden Thread Alliance, which runs nine primary schools in North Kent, are trying to encourage healthier eating to prevent more children becoming obese.

Academy chain head Garry Ratcliffe says healthy breakfast and lunch options are helping to prevent childhood obesity

Chief executive Garry Ratcliffe said the academy chain had adapted its catering to ensure pupils were given healthy options.

"We want to make use of every penny of government funding to make sure we provide the best quality food,” he said.

But he said lifestyle factors, deprivation and the cost of living crisis had made it difficult for families to feed their children healthy food on a tight budget.

Children playing on devices rather than playing outside had also increased the likelihood of obesity, he said.

“Offering a nutritious breakfast for every child and a great lunch - that’s what we can offer as a school,” Mr Ratcliffe added.

The previous government introduced a tax on high-sugar soft drinks in 2018 and restrictions on where unhealthy products can be promoted in supermarkets in England. Other measures were delayed until 2025 by then Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

The new Labour government has told BBC South East it will take action to prevent ill-health and tackle the obesity crisis head on.

A Department for Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “We will introduce tight restrictions on advertising junk food, alongside banning children from being able to purchase sugary, high caffeine energy drinks.

“By building a healthier society, we will help to build a healthy economy.”