New figures reveal that 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. The recently released NHS England data highlights the scale of the childhood obesity crisis in this country.

Since the first Complications from Excess Weight clinic (CEW) opened in 2021, the NHS has treated:

• 6,497 children and teenagers total;
• 423 of these 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 58 is unknown.

All were ‘extremely’ overweight for their age. The four-year-olds weighed an average of 5st 3lbs, which is the same weight as a typical 10-year-old.

Around 400 of the children treated by CEWs have had weight loss jabs as part of their treatment plans.