Demi
Mon, Oct-14-13, 05:27
From The Sunday Times
London, UK
13 October, 2013
Babies caught up in obesity epidemic
A 10-MONTH-OLD baby was among hundreds of children admitted to hospital because of obesity in the past three years.
She was one of two baby girls diagnosed as dangerously overweight amid serious concerns about the threat that childhood obesity poses to public health.
A total of 45 out of 164 hospital trusts have responded to Freedom of Information (FoI) requests, revealing that 932 children under the age of 15 were admitted to hospital with a primary diagnosis of obesity in the past three years. Among them were 283 of primary school age and 101 under five.
As less than a third of trusts responded to the FoI requests, the total number of obese children across the country is likely to be far higher.
The findings have sparked fears that Britain’s childhood obesity crisis is growing. The National Child Measurement Programme figures for 2012 show a third of 10-year-olds and a fifth of four-year-olds were overweight or obese.
Last night, a leading expert called on the government to intervene, claiming obesity is the “foremost public health threat facing the nation”.
Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust said in its FoI response that a 10-month-old girl had been treated for obesity in the past year.
A one-year-old girl was also referred to Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust, which said she had “no investigations/procedures during this inpatient spell” but declined to comment further.
Milton Keynes Hospital, Sheffield Children’s and Cambridge University Hospitals were among the trusts that recorded two-year-olds admitted to their wards for obesity.
A total of 172 children — or 18% of all under-15s admitted to hospital for obesity — were treated by Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. The trust declined to comment.
The second highest number of admissions was at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London, where 97 children were admitted over the past three years.
A spokesman for the hospital said: “Great Ormond Street is a specialist paediatric hospital and we see many patients with rare, complex or multiple conditions from all over the country.
“It is therefore not surprising to us that our patient obesity figure is higher than that of many other hospitals.”
Health problems associated with being overweight or obese cost the NHS more than £5bn a year, a figure likely to rise, according to Dr Mars Skae, a consultant paediatrician at Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital. He said: “Obesity puts an incredible strain on the distribution of NHS finances and resources. I am increasingly being referred children as young as four in our specialist obesity clinics who suffer from morbid obesity.
“It is not unusual for me to see 18-stone teenagers in our clinics any more and this is extremely worrying, not least because they are much more likely to develop serious health complications, such as type 2 diabetes, high blood-fat levels, fatty liver disease, joint and mobility problems and some cancers when they get older.
“Childhood obesity is the foremost public health threat currently facing the youth of this nation.”
Yesterday, Tam Fry, honorary chairman of the Child Growth Foundation, accused the NHS and the government of failing to tackle childhood obesity. He said: "Children are beginning to become obese from the day they are born. We are starting to find children in hospital from an unimaginably early age with a condition which is totally preventable.
“The real tragedy is that the NHS does not set itself up to look for the early signs of childhood obesity in the first year of life. It is key that the government educate parents much better in nutrition. The correct age of weaning is being ignored and babies are being fed with solid foods, which is disastrous.”
Sugar and spice and all things fattening
THE amount of sugar found in some baby and toddler foods is as much as three times higher than a limit set by the government, a Sunday Times investigation has found.
Department of Health guidelines categorise more than 22.5g of total sugars per 100g as “high”. Yet one product tested was found to have nearly 70g of natural fruit sugar per 100g.
Others had high levels of artificially added sugar, which is frowned on by nutritionists. Public Health England, an agency of the heath department, said: “We recommend that babies have no added sugar and that parents check the labels on all food.”
The generous helpings of sugar in some baby foods are revealed amid mounting concern about links to obesity. Some doctors consider the risk to health from excessive sugar consumption has been underestimated.
Under government guidelines, foods are considered low in sugar only if they contain 5g of sugar or less per 100g.
Tests showed that Organix Goodies strawberry and apple fruit gummies, aimed at children over 12 months, contains the equivalent of 69.5g of sugar per 100g. The gummies, sold in 12g packets, are labelled with a “no junk promise”.
Organix Goodies apple and orange soft oaty bars contain 28.8g of sugar per 100g.
A spokesman for Organix said the two products contain fruit purées and concentrates that raise the level of naturally occurring sugar. They contain no added sugar.
Heinz fruit with yoghurt cereal, which does include added sugar, contains 27.6g of sugar per 100g. It is aimed at babies over four months — an age when some nutritionists recommend babies should still be on a diet of breast or formula milk.
There is also added sugar in Heinz biscotti organic, targeted at infants aged over seven months. They contain 28g of sugar per 100g.
Heinz said: “Heinz biscotti are free from artificial colours and preservatives and contain no added salt. The amount of sugar is kept to a minimum consistent with the need to provide a biscuit-like texture which also dissolves easily to avoid choking. Heinz fruit with yogurt contains key nutrients.”
A Hipp Organic cocoa and vanilla dessert, which includes added sugar and is targeted at infants, has 14.3g of sugar per 100g.
Karen Smith, group product manager at Hipp Organic, said sugar was only added to foods on “an exceptional basis”.
She added: “Most of our baby-food products do not contain added sugars; only the sugars which are found naturally in ingredients such as fruit or milk.”
Among the products with lower sugar content are Cow & Gate fruity muesli, which has 12.7g of sugar per 100g, and Ella’s Kitchen banana baby brekkie with 12.4g of sugar per 100g. Both companies said the products had no added sugar.
The findings come after a study revealed that baby food from shops was half as nutritious as homemade meals. The research, conducted by the department of human nutrition at Glasgow University, showed that many products contained high levels of sugar and were often marketed to be eaten by babies from four months of age.
Dr Helen Crawley, director of First Steps Nutrition Trust, said: “Nobody needs to buy special baby food.” http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/news/uk_news/Health/article1326826.ece
London, UK
13 October, 2013
Babies caught up in obesity epidemic
A 10-MONTH-OLD baby was among hundreds of children admitted to hospital because of obesity in the past three years.
She was one of two baby girls diagnosed as dangerously overweight amid serious concerns about the threat that childhood obesity poses to public health.
A total of 45 out of 164 hospital trusts have responded to Freedom of Information (FoI) requests, revealing that 932 children under the age of 15 were admitted to hospital with a primary diagnosis of obesity in the past three years. Among them were 283 of primary school age and 101 under five.
As less than a third of trusts responded to the FoI requests, the total number of obese children across the country is likely to be far higher.
The findings have sparked fears that Britain’s childhood obesity crisis is growing. The National Child Measurement Programme figures for 2012 show a third of 10-year-olds and a fifth of four-year-olds were overweight or obese.
Last night, a leading expert called on the government to intervene, claiming obesity is the “foremost public health threat facing the nation”.
Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust said in its FoI response that a 10-month-old girl had been treated for obesity in the past year.
A one-year-old girl was also referred to Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust, which said she had “no investigations/procedures during this inpatient spell” but declined to comment further.
Milton Keynes Hospital, Sheffield Children’s and Cambridge University Hospitals were among the trusts that recorded two-year-olds admitted to their wards for obesity.
A total of 172 children — or 18% of all under-15s admitted to hospital for obesity — were treated by Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. The trust declined to comment.
The second highest number of admissions was at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London, where 97 children were admitted over the past three years.
A spokesman for the hospital said: “Great Ormond Street is a specialist paediatric hospital and we see many patients with rare, complex or multiple conditions from all over the country.
“It is therefore not surprising to us that our patient obesity figure is higher than that of many other hospitals.”
Health problems associated with being overweight or obese cost the NHS more than £5bn a year, a figure likely to rise, according to Dr Mars Skae, a consultant paediatrician at Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital. He said: “Obesity puts an incredible strain on the distribution of NHS finances and resources. I am increasingly being referred children as young as four in our specialist obesity clinics who suffer from morbid obesity.
“It is not unusual for me to see 18-stone teenagers in our clinics any more and this is extremely worrying, not least because they are much more likely to develop serious health complications, such as type 2 diabetes, high blood-fat levels, fatty liver disease, joint and mobility problems and some cancers when they get older.
“Childhood obesity is the foremost public health threat currently facing the youth of this nation.”
Yesterday, Tam Fry, honorary chairman of the Child Growth Foundation, accused the NHS and the government of failing to tackle childhood obesity. He said: "Children are beginning to become obese from the day they are born. We are starting to find children in hospital from an unimaginably early age with a condition which is totally preventable.
“The real tragedy is that the NHS does not set itself up to look for the early signs of childhood obesity in the first year of life. It is key that the government educate parents much better in nutrition. The correct age of weaning is being ignored and babies are being fed with solid foods, which is disastrous.”
Sugar and spice and all things fattening
THE amount of sugar found in some baby and toddler foods is as much as three times higher than a limit set by the government, a Sunday Times investigation has found.
Department of Health guidelines categorise more than 22.5g of total sugars per 100g as “high”. Yet one product tested was found to have nearly 70g of natural fruit sugar per 100g.
Others had high levels of artificially added sugar, which is frowned on by nutritionists. Public Health England, an agency of the heath department, said: “We recommend that babies have no added sugar and that parents check the labels on all food.”
The generous helpings of sugar in some baby foods are revealed amid mounting concern about links to obesity. Some doctors consider the risk to health from excessive sugar consumption has been underestimated.
Under government guidelines, foods are considered low in sugar only if they contain 5g of sugar or less per 100g.
Tests showed that Organix Goodies strawberry and apple fruit gummies, aimed at children over 12 months, contains the equivalent of 69.5g of sugar per 100g. The gummies, sold in 12g packets, are labelled with a “no junk promise”.
Organix Goodies apple and orange soft oaty bars contain 28.8g of sugar per 100g.
A spokesman for Organix said the two products contain fruit purées and concentrates that raise the level of naturally occurring sugar. They contain no added sugar.
Heinz fruit with yoghurt cereal, which does include added sugar, contains 27.6g of sugar per 100g. It is aimed at babies over four months — an age when some nutritionists recommend babies should still be on a diet of breast or formula milk.
There is also added sugar in Heinz biscotti organic, targeted at infants aged over seven months. They contain 28g of sugar per 100g.
Heinz said: “Heinz biscotti are free from artificial colours and preservatives and contain no added salt. The amount of sugar is kept to a minimum consistent with the need to provide a biscuit-like texture which also dissolves easily to avoid choking. Heinz fruit with yogurt contains key nutrients.”
A Hipp Organic cocoa and vanilla dessert, which includes added sugar and is targeted at infants, has 14.3g of sugar per 100g.
Karen Smith, group product manager at Hipp Organic, said sugar was only added to foods on “an exceptional basis”.
She added: “Most of our baby-food products do not contain added sugars; only the sugars which are found naturally in ingredients such as fruit or milk.”
Among the products with lower sugar content are Cow & Gate fruity muesli, which has 12.7g of sugar per 100g, and Ella’s Kitchen banana baby brekkie with 12.4g of sugar per 100g. Both companies said the products had no added sugar.
The findings come after a study revealed that baby food from shops was half as nutritious as homemade meals. The research, conducted by the department of human nutrition at Glasgow University, showed that many products contained high levels of sugar and were often marketed to be eaten by babies from four months of age.
Dr Helen Crawley, director of First Steps Nutrition Trust, said: “Nobody needs to buy special baby food.” http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/news/uk_news/Health/article1326826.ece