Liver risk as child obesity figures still on the rise

SOME 500,000 children in England may be at risk of developing life-threatening liver disease because they are overweight, a health adviser has said.

Professor Martin Lombard, England’s National Clinical Director for Liver Disease, says the four to 14-year-olds could develop “fatty liver disease”.

Too much fat in liver cells stops the liver from working properly, increasing the risk of heart attack and stroke. It can also lead to diabetes and cirrhosis of the liver later in life. Cirrhosis – scarring of the liver – is commonly associated with alcohol abuse, but it can also be caused by obesity.

A third of UK children are overweight or obese, and despite stark warnings about the effect on their health, the numbers continue to rise.

As some parents of fat children seem to be turning a deaf ear to messages about the importance of tackling childhood obesity, the latest drive to address children’s weight problems is asking mums and dads to get involved too.

During National Childhood Obesity Week (July 4-10), the MEND (Mind, Exercise, Nutrition... Do it!) organisation, which runs free healthy lifestyle programmes for children and families, is running Move It Week.

The idea is to encourage families to spend more time being active together, and numerous activities have been organised across the UK by MEND’s network of 350 healthy lifestyle programmes.

They include a Family Wii Fit challenge, a Dance-a-thon, Olympic-themed family activity sessions, triathlons and decathlons.

Paul Sacher, co-founder and chief research officer at MEND, says research shows many parents don’t realise their child is overweight.

“Parents often assume that they only need to worry when their child starts to look like the images of obesity portrayed in the media, which generally reflect very obese children. But with one in three children overweight or obese in the UK, it’s vital that parents are informed about their child’s weight status, so they can be referred to the right services.”

He says families on MEND’s healthy lifestyle programmes are taught that small changes make a big difference – for example swapping white bread and pasta for wholemeal, and drinking six to eight glasses of water a day.

Prof Paul Gately runs Carnegie International “Fat Camps” during the holidays (Sunday, July 10 and Saturday, September 3). The camp is for overweight or obese children aged between eight and 17 years old. Students have the option of choosing to live on site at Woodhouse Grove School, near Bradford in West Yorkshire, or they can enrol in day camp.

The successful summer camp has been running for 12 years and has helped 1,000 children lose a total of 13,000lbs.

Ninety-six per cent of children weigh less three years after attending the camp, reducing their blood pressure, cholesterol and body fat, to help them prevent the risk of heart disease and other long-term health issues associated with obesity.

Prof Gately, director of CWM Health says: “Over 4.5 million children are overweight or obese in the UK. Our work is vital in helping young people lose weight to reduce the associated health risks.

“The camp is designed to educate young people about leading a healthy lifestyle through diet and exercise. Being overweight affects young people physically and emotionally, but we believe that with the right education, support and encouragement they can take control of their own weight loss journey and transform their lives.”

The National Obesity Forum spokesman Tam Fry says the best way of tackling childhood obesity is by preventing it happening at a very young age, rather than having to tackle it as children get older.

He suggests the best way of doing this is by incorporating exercise into children’s lives as soon as they can crawl or walk, as well as encouraging them to eat healthily.