Hundreds of four-year-olds among ‘extremely overweight’ patients at 39 specialist centres since 2021
More than 6,000 children living with obesity, including hundreds as young as four, have required treatment at specialist NHS weight-loss clinics, new figures reveal.
NHS England data, published for the first time, underlines the scale of the growing childhood obesity crisis.
Since the first Complications from Excess Weight clinic (CEW) opened in 2021, the NHS has treated 6,497 children and teenagers. Of these, 423 were four years old, 1,088 were aged between five and eight, 1,791 were aged nine to 12 and 3,137 were aged between 13 and 17. The age of a further 58 is unknown.
All were “extremely” overweight for their age, with the four-year-olds weighing an average of 33kg (5st 3lbs), the same weight as a typical 10-year-old. About 400 of the children treated by CEWs have had weight loss jabs as part of their treatment plans.
