Diet coaches will be provided for children as young as two years-old in a desperate effort to tackle the UK’s obesity crisis.
“You’re having a giraffe!” I hear you cry.
No, I’m not. According to The Telegraph:
Diet coaches will be rolled out to thousands of children as young as two after a tripling in hospital admissions linked to obesity.
Health chiefs will on Wednesday announce that around 3,000 children will be given help from a new network of specialist clinics providing families with help to overhaul their diet and lifestyles.
Amanda Pritchard, NHS chief executive, will warn of the “terrible human cost” of obesity as well as the pressure it is placing on the health service.
Official NHS figures show 9,431 hospital admissions linked to obesity in 2021-22, up from 3,370 in 2011-12.
Ms Pritchard will say: “Obesity can lead to a string of serious illnesses such as cancer and diabetes – bringing a terrible human cost, and also a real pressure on the NHS.
“Doing nothing now is not an option and so these new clinics will bring together a range of experts in one place providing intensive – but sensitive – physical and mental support for thousands of young people and their families.”
Children and young people being treated at the new clinics will get access to specialist NHS doctors, nurses, psychologists, social workers and dietitians who will assess their complications, provide tailored help with diet and lifestyle changes, and deliver mental health support and coaching.
Health officials will pledge to treat 3,000 children a year at 30 clinics, up from 15 that were originally set out in plans in 2019, with £18 million promised for the next two years.
The intervention, due to be announced at the annual NHS Confed Expo conference in Manchester, will be aimed at those aged between two and 18 suffering health complications related to severe obesity.
One in five children is overweight or obese by the time they start primary school, and one in three reaches this point by the end of it, official data for England show.
Children who are severely obese can also develop type 2 diabetes, early heart disease, liver conditions, breathing problems and sleep and mental health difficulties.
For children to be referred to an “NHS Complications from Excess Weight clinic” they would need to have a body mass index (BMI) above the 99.6 percentile and a related complication.
