Almost a quarter of UK GPs are seeing obese children aged four and under | Obesity

Almost a quarter of GPs care for obese children aged four and under, according to a survey of GPs in the UK.

The “alarming” research also found that almost half (49%) of GPs say boys and girls are obese by the age of seven; This includes a handful of children under one year old.

But four in five GPs find it difficult to talk to children or their parents about the condition if such conversations cause them to feel upset, angry or embarrassed.

Dr John Holden, chief medical officer at the medical body MDDUS, which conducted the survey, said: “These findings are a worrying confirmation of the growing crisis in childhood obesity across the country and the real challenges this poses to daily GP visits.”

The survey asked 540 GPs about their experiences of tackling obesity, what the boom in the use of weight-loss drugs and the widespread danger of being overweight means for the NHS.

• Almost a quarter (23%) said they saw obesity as a clinical problem in children aged zero to four.

• 81 percent of doctors have seen obesity between the first 12 months and 11 years of age.

• Four in five (80%) find it somewhat or very difficult to talk to parents of an obese child under 16 about their weight and health; only 10% say it is easy.

• Almost two-thirds (65%) find it difficult to talk to obese teenagers, with only 20% saying it is easy.

Discussing a child’s weight with parents is difficult because they may become upset (72%), angry (47%), complain (24%), or cause embarrassment or stigma (74%). Similar concerns prevent such conversations with children; As a result, it is possible for children to develop irregular eating habits.

The complex factors that explain obesity, such as poverty, lack of access to nutritious food and limited opportunities for children to be active, mean GPs approach conversations about children’s weight “with care and empathy for families under pressure”, Holden said.

“When parents feel judged or blamed, conversations can quickly turn emotional and, as our members have told us, lead to complaints from distressed or angry parents,” he added.

Executive Director Katharine Jenner Obesity Health AllianceA coalition of 65 health and children’s groups said too many GPs were encountering obese babies and toddlers: “Another sign that we are letting children down before they even start school. If we are serious about prevention, this needs to start in the earliest years, otherwise the damage will follow them throughout their lives.”

It called for food and drink products to be reformulated to make them healthier, restrictions on the marketing of products high in fat, salt and sugar, and better support for families.

GPs also revealed in the survey that adult patients who should not be taking weight-loss medications were putting themselves at risk by fraudulently obtaining them from private pharmacies. These include people with eating disorders such as anorexia or bulimia, and people currently taking other medications that may interact badly with “fat injections” and pose risks to their health.

Most of the estimated 1.5 million people in Britain who use GLP-1 drugs for weight loss take them privately; Only a small minority get them from the NHS, which has strict eligibility rules.

One doctor said GLP-1s were “privately accessed quite indiscriminately by many people whose body mass index is not in the obese category.” Another described a patient with a history of anorexia nervosa who took medications privately. Two-thirds (67%) of family physicians have seen patients who experienced this condition despite not complying with the eligibility rules.

The findings raise questions about how thoroughly private pharmacies carry out appropriate checks on people who want to start using GLP-1, such as checking other medicines they are already taking.

The vast majority of GPs surveyed said obesity was likely to be a defining public health issue in their careers (92%) and that it would significantly impact the NHS’s ability to provide care (95%). But 59 per cent believe weight loss vaccines would save the NHS money; only 22 percent disagree.

The Department of Health and Social Care did not comment directly on MDDUS’ findings. But a spokesman said: “Every child deserves the best possible start in life, which is why this government is taking decisive action to tackle childhood obesity.

“We are restricting junk food advertising on TV and online before 9pm, a move expected to remove 7.2 billion calories a year from children’s diets, while giving local authorities new powers to stop fast food outlets opening outside schools.

“Through our ten-year health plan, we are shifting the focus from disease to prevention to create a healthier nation.”