Children aged two and over treated for obesity-related diseases in England
Thousands of children aged two and up in England are being treated for health complications linked to severe obesity, as leading experts warned of an “escalating public health crisis”.
NHS data shows that one in 10 children attending primary school are obese: 9.6% of reception-age children in 2023-24, up from 9.2% in 2022-23.
Among year 6 children, aged 10 to 11, the obesity rate fell slightly from 22.7% to 22.1%, but remained higher than the 21% level in 2019-2020.
NHS England said it spends £6.5 billion a year treating obesity-related health problems across all age groups in England and has introduced a range of services to support children and families to improve their health. This included 30 specialist clinics treating thousands of children between the ages of two and 18 with health complications related to severe obesity.
The clinics provide specialist treatments and develop tailor-made care packages for families, including diet plans, mental health care and coaching, the NHS said.
Professor Simon Kenny, NHS England National Clinical Director for Children and Young People, said: “These latest figures continue to concern me as they show that almost one in ten children are now classified as obese in their first year of school.
“Obesity can have a major impact on a child’s life – it affects every organ in the body and is essentially a ticking health time bomb for the future, increasing a child’s risk of type 2 diabetes, cancer, mental health problems and many more. increases other diseases.”
Tam Fry, chair of the National Obesity Forum, called the figures “very worrying”. He said: “The co-morbidities caused by obesity – including type 2 diabetes, heart disease and some cancers – are certainly more serious than simple obesity itself.”
The new data, released on Tuesday, comes from the government’s national child measurement programme, which covers mainstream state schools in England. It found that obesity rates among reception-age children living in the most deprived areas (12.9%) were more than double those in the least deprived areas (6%). Obesity among children in year 6 was 29.2% in the most deprived areas, compared to 13% in the least deprived areas.
The Local Government Association said money raised from the sugar tax on soft drinks should be targeted at areas with higher rates of poverty, childhood obesity and tooth decay. It also wants the tax to be extended to milk-based drinks such as milkshakes, coffee with high sugar content and other products with high sugar content such as cakes, biscuits and chocolate.
Katharine Jenner, director of the Obesity Health Alliance, said: “Every child should have access to affordable and delicious food, but our food environment is increasingly dominated by unhealthy options, high in sugar, salt and saturated fat – all of which are a major contributing factor. is. is a major contributor to the shockingly high levels of childhood obesity in England, as shown in today’s NHS report.”
Sonia Pombo, campaign director and nutritionist at Action on Salt and Action on Sugar, said the latest statistics highlight an “escalating public health crisis”, and underlined an urgent need to tackle the impact of unhealthy food.
“This is the result of the previous administration’s hands-off approach to public health,” she said. “The power is now in the hands of the new administration to create meaningful and lasting change for better health.”
Last year the Guardian revealed how children in England were at increased risk of serious health problems after Conservative ministers suspended anti-obesity policies until 2025.
Health Secretary Andrew Gwynne said: “Our widening waistlines are costing the NHS and the economy billions of pounds and allowing children to lead unhealthy lives… That’s why we’re restricting junk food advertising on TV and online, reducing schoolchildren’s access to fast food and a ban on the sale of energy drinks to under-16s.”