Childhood obesity cases up four-fold in a decade: Nearly 21,000 aged five to 19 treated in hospital for weight-related conditions

Soaring numbers of children need hospital care because their weight is out of control.

NHS admission figures show a more than four-fold rise over a decade in youngsters needing medical attention as a consequence of being overweight.

Almost 21,000 patients aged five to 19 were treated for obesity-related conditions in that period.

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Obesity boom: The number of children who have been treated for weight-related conditions has soared in the past decade

Experts warn the alarming rise in cases – from 872 in 2000 to 3,806 in 2009 – is evidence that easy access to junk food and sedentary living are harming our children’s health.

Asthma, interrupted breathing during sleep and type 2 diabetes were among the most common  reasons for hospital admission.

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In 2009 alone, 198 teenage girls experienced pregnancy complications where obesity was a factor.

The research by Imperial College London concluded obesity has an impact much earlier in life than was predicted. Girls were more likely to need medical intervention as a result of their weight, accounting for 55 per cent of cases.

They also made up three-quarters of patients who had ‘last resort’ weight-loss operations.

The decade saw a sharp rise in child and teenage candidates for such bariatric surgery – typically to shrink the stomach with a gastric band or partially remove it – from just one case in 2000 to 31 in 2009. The youngest was a boy of 13.