There has been a four-fold increase in the number of children and teenagers admitted to hospital for obesity-related conditions in the last decade, doctors in England and Wales warn.
In 2009, nearly 4,000 young people needed hospital treatment for problems complicated by being overweight compared with just 872 in 2000. Rates of obesity surgery also went up, especially for teenage girls.
Doctors say the UK has the highest rate of child obesity in Western Europe. Obesity has been linked with serious illnesses during childhood and an increased risk of developing conditions, such as type-2 diabetes, asthma and breathing difficulties during sleep.
National surveys in England suggest about three in 10 two-to-15-year-olds are overweight, while 14-20% are obese.
A team led by Dr Sonia Saxena, of Imperial College London, analysed statistics on all NHS admissions for obesity – as a primary cause or alongside conditions that had been complicated by obesity – in hospitals in England and Wales over a 10-year period in patients aged five to 19.