Childhood obesity
Type 2 diabetes associated with obesity is dramatically on the rise in the UK
Research from the University of Glasgow shows that in the past three years alone, the number of patients requiring specialist treatment for Type 2 diabetes has risen 40%. This is a serious health condition that can have a serious knock-on effect for children both during childhood and during their adult lives. And children diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes have a far greater chance of developing serious complications than those diagnosed as adults because they will have the condition for much longer in comparison.
They are also likely to suffer from obesity from an earlier point in their life, coupled with worsening control over their diabetes. This is a major issue not only for the patients, for their families, for society, but for the medical profession in general. Currently, 10% of the NHS’s budget is already spent on dealing with diabetes, and this is a figure that’s likely to rise.
The very first case of childhood diabetes was only diagnosed in 2000. By 2016/2017, there were over 700, of whom three-quarters were obese. And it’s a salutary thought that 22,000 children in England and Wales were diagnosed or classed as being severely obese in their final year of primary school.
