Childhood obesity linked to liver disease

More than half a million children could be at risk of liver disease due to obesity, is the warning from government expert Professor Martin Lombard, the Department of Health’s national clinical director. Government estimates indicate that around 500,000 of children below the age of 15 are suffering from “non alcoholic liver disease”. This is a condition where fat builds up in the liver cells causing inflammation and swelling and in some cases, it can lead to potentially fatal cirrhosis of the liver.

Excessive alcohol intake is commonly associated with the disease but Sarah Matthews, from the British Liver Trust, believes that, “Even though alcohol is regarded as the key cause of liver disease in the UK, weight-related liver damage is set to become a huge public health problem where, if the projections hold true, obesity could overtake alcohol as the biggest single driver of cirrhosis in the future.”

Recent Government figures highlight that 30% of children between the ages of 2 and 15 years old are classified as overweight or clinically obese. This figure is expected to double by 2050. Professor Lombard believes there is a danger of the next generation dying young and states, “We know that with childhood obesity on the rise we can expect more children to be at risk of fatty liver disease in the near future.”

The Chief Medical Officer of England, Professor Dame Sally Davies, says that children and their parents need to be aware of the health risks of obesity with fat being stored around vital internal organs and not just on the body surface. However, she says that young people who are overweight and obese can combat fatty liver disease by making simple changes to their lifestyle.
She adds: “There is good evidence that gradual weight loss through healthy eating and regular exercise can reduce ill health, such as diabetes and the amount of fat in a liver.”

There is no treatment for the disease but the condition is reversible through weight loss and improvements in diet. Weight loss for adults however can be helped by medication, such as Xenical and Alli which act as fat absorbers blocking out a third of fat in food eaten in a patient’s diet, leading to steady weight loss. However, it should be stressed that a person must be prepared to adopt a healthier diet and exercise in conjunction with the medication for it to be truly effective and sustainable.

Obesity epidemic: Child aged six suffers stroke

A six year old and an eight old suffered strokes that are thought to have resulted from their weight are two extreme examples highlighting the obesity crisis in under-16 year old’s. Recent figures released by 66 of Britain’s 168 acute hospital trusts under the Freedom of Information Act, show show that more than 5,500 children under the age of 16 were diagnosed or treated for obesity in hospitals in the past five years.

These figures can be further broken down by age with 500 children under five being diagnosed with clinical obesity, including 40 children under one, 49 one year old’s and 85 two year old’s.
These depressing facts show the continuing struggle Britain faces against obesity. The rising number of clinically obese babies and toddlers often leads to them suffering from weight related diseases such as diabetes and breathing difficulties, which would normally not appear until later in life.

It is reported that a chief cause of the problem are the parents who have no idea what to feed their babies. Sometimes they attempt to wean their babies while they are too young but inappropriate foods are also major issue. Doctors have seen babies fed crisps, chocolate and fizzy drinks. In some cases parents have been found to be giving their infants puréed chips with milk, or mashing up takeaway food.

Dr Ken Ong, clinical lead for childhood obesity at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge, said: “The one and two year-old’s we see are massively obese but it is only the very extreme who are coming to hospital clinics. There will be many more who are in the community or are not being recognized at all. The popular hope is that it is just baby fat and they will grow out of it, but our studies show that it is more likely to continue being obese and even become more obese.”

Obesity cutting life expectancy for todays children

Today's children and teenagers regularly eat junk foods, watch more television and are less active than their parents were.So it was not shocking when a new study suggested that today's younger generation would live shorter lives than their parents.

"Diseases such as Type II diabetes, high blood pressure, heart conditions and joint deterioration - what were once considered 'adult' diseases - are regularly being diagnosed in children, due to the prevalence of obesity," said Jessica Bartfield, weight loss specialist at Gottlieb Memorial Hospital, part of the Loyola University Health System."What is particularly tragic is that studies have suggested that obesity in children today may contribute to a 2-5 year decline in their life expectancy, shorter than that of their parents, due to obesity related diseases that are largely preventable," she added.

She said the causes are 'multifactorial, including environment and culture'. Genetics and parental weight status also plays a role."If one parent is obese, a child has a 50 percent likelihood of being obese, and if both parents are obese, that skyrockets to 80 percent likelihood," she said.

Research by the Centre for Disease Control found that 80 percent of obese children between the ages of 10-15 continue to be obese at age 25.