More than 6,000 children treated at obesity clinics in England, figures show

More than 6,000 children living with obesity, including hundreds as young as four, have required treatment at specialist NHS weight-loss clinics, new figures reveal. NHS England data, published for the first time, underlines the scale of the growing childhood obesity crisis. Since the first Complications from Excess Weight clinic (CEW) opened in 2021, the NHS has treated 6,497 children and teenagers. Of these, 423 were four years old, 1,088 were aged between five and eight, 1,791 were aged nine to 12 and 3,137 were aged between 13 and 17. The age of a further 58 is unknown. All were “extremely” overweight for their age, with the four-year-olds weighing an average of 33kg (5st 3lbs), the same weight as a typical 10-year-old. About 400 of the children treated by CEWs have had weight loss jabs as part of their treatment plans. In order to be treated at a CEW, children must be referred by a community or hospital paediatrician, a GP or childhood mental health services and have a BMI above the 99.6th percentile as well as an illness linked to their excess weight. New analysis of just under 6,000 children treated by CEWs, due to be presented at the European Congress on Obesity , in Istanbul, found that 17% had high blood pressure and a similar number had abnormal fat levels in their blood, while 6% had type 2 diabetes. …