Overweight parents to be put on diets in bid to help their obese kids lose weight

OVERWEIGHT mums and dads will be put on diets to try to help their obese kids to slim.

Thousands of the nation’s fattest children — some as young as two — will be offered weight-loss coaching at 15 new clinics.

And the radical NHS plans will see their families being told to attend sessions as medics seek to tackle the underlying causes of excess flab.

Both the children and parents could be given diet plans.

One in three kids is currently too fat by the end of primary school — with around 2.5million youngsters in England affected.

Being too heavy raises the risk of type 2 diabetes, liver and heart disease, sleep problems and common cancers.

NHS chief exec Amanda Pritchard said: “Obesity increases the risk posed by Covid-19 but many people, including children, have gained weight during the pandemic.

“Left unchecked, obesity can have other serious consequences.

“This early intervention scheme aims to prevent children and young people enduring a lifetime of ill health.”

Around 1,000 youngsters a year will be helped by dietitians, psychologists, and specialist nurses. But experts say it is “too little, too late” to tackle the obesity problems.

Kids in the poorest parts of the country are twice as likely to be overweight than wealthy youngsters.

Tam Fry, of the National Obesity Forum, said: “There are millions of overweight children so this will only scratch the surface of the obesity epidemic. It is tackling the symptoms rather than the underlying problem.”

Clinics were piloted by Bristol Royal Hospital for Children.

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