Alarming NHS figures show that the number of children requiring
hospital treatment for obesity-related conditions has increased more
than four-fold in less than ten years.
The analysis, conducted by researchers at Imperial College London,
comprised of a study of NHS hospital admission statistics for obesity
between 2000 and 2009 in England and Wales. The research team, led by Dr
Sonia Saxena, looked at statistics where either obesity the main cause
for the admission or together with a condition that had worsened due to
obesity.
They discovered a sharp rise in the
number of five to 19-year-olds admitted to hospital with obesity related
conditions, increasing from 872 to 3,806, with almost 21,000 patients
aged five to 19 being treated for such problems in that period.
Reporting their findings in the journal Public Library of Science ONE, the team also state that admissions were more common in girls than boys.
Girls accounted for 55% of the cases, as well as comprising of
three-quarters of the patients who had underwent bariatric weight loss
surgery, where the stomach is reduced in size. Also known as gastric
surgery, bariatric operations carry a number of risks
and can cost thousands of pounds for somebody who decides they do not
want to join an ever-growing NHS waiting list for such operations –
after meeting strict criteria of course.
Dr Sonia Saxena says: “This is one of the first studies to show
health problems linked to obesity are affecting children. The figures
are alarming. This is no longer a ticking obesity time bomb – it has
exploded. It is no longer obese adults that should be the sole focus of
our concerns. It’s clear that rising obesity levels are causing more
medical problems in children. The burden of obesity is usually thought
to have its serious consequences in adulthood, but we now see it
manifesting earlier, in childhood.”
Tam Fry, a member of the National Obesity Forum and chairman of the
Child Growth Foundation charity, added: “I’m not surprised by this leap,
and I won’t be surprised if in five years we’re taking about another
significant rise. When it comes to obesity we have taken our eyes off
children to such an extent that they are now completely unmonitored and
left to get on with it. The medical profession is not really paying too
much attention to them. A lot of these young people are completely
unaware that piling on the pounds will not only make them fat but give
rise to these other conditions. We’ve got a substantial number of our
children going into their secondary school life ill-equipped to know
what the consequences of fatness and obesity are. We need a thorough
reappraisal of the way we allow the food industry to get away with
stuffing unhealthy levels of fat and sugar into their food. We need to
ban fizzy drinks and sugar-laden drinks entirely. We need to take really
radical steps.”
Obesity
has long been connected to a wide range of serious health problems
during childhood and increases the risk of developing conditions such as
type-2 diabetes, asthma and can result in interrupted sleep due to breathing difficulties.
Government figures show that about 30% of children between the ages
of 2 and 15 years old are classified as overweight and around a fifth
are classified as obese. Worryingly, the number of overweight or obese
children is expected to double by 2050.
Doctors and health experts have stressed the need for urgent
government action to ease a nationwide obesity crisis, such as severely
limiting access to junk food.
Professor Mitch Blair of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child
Health, commented: “The UK already has the highest rate of childhood
obesity in western Europe, estimated to cost the NHS £4.2billion a year.
This, coupled with these latest statistics, further emphasises the need
for urgent action. The fast paced nature and rising cost of day-to-day
living means parents are often left with little option but to feed their
family quick and easy food which is often extremely unhealthy. This,
and the fact children favour video games or watching television over
playing outside, is a recipe for disaster. We need to look seriously at
how fast food is marketed at children and consider banning junk food
prior to the 9pm watershed, limiting the number of fast food outlets
near schools and making sure children are taught the importance of a
healthy, balanced diet.”
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