Almost a quarter of UK GPs are seeing obese children aged four and under

The Guardian - World NewsCenter-LeftEN 4 min read 100% complete by Denis Campbell Health policy editorJanuary 25, 2026 at 06:44 PM

Read Original Article

AI Summary

medium article 4 min

A recent UK survey of 540 family doctors by MDDUS reveals a concerning trend of childhood obesity. Almost a quarter of GPs have seen obese children aged four and under, and nearly half have treated children up to age seven for obesity. The research highlights the difficulties GPs face when discussing weight issues with children and their parents, with 80% finding it challenging due to potential upset, anger, shame, or complaints. Doctors cite complex factors like poverty and limited access to nutritious food as contributing to the problem, requiring a careful and empathetic approach. The Obesity Health Alliance views these findings as evidence of a failure to support children's health from a young age.

Key Entities & Roles

Key Player Opposition Context

Katharine Jenner 60% Obesity Health Alliance 60% NHS 70% MDDUS 70% John Holden ×280% UK 90%

Keywords

childhood obesity 100% gps 90% family doctors 80% obese children 80% weight management 70% parental communication 60% uk 50% health 40% survey 40%

Sentiment Analysis

Very Negative

Score: -0.60

Source Transparency

Source

The Guardian - World News

Political Lean

Center-Left (-0.40)

Far LeftCenterFar Right

Classification Confidence

90%

Geographic Perspective

United Kingdom

This article was automatically classified using rule-based analysis. The political bias score ranges from -1 (far left) to +1 (far right).

Topic Connections

Explore how the topics in this article connect to other news stories

No topic relationship data available yet. This graph will appear once topic relationships have been computed.

childhood obesity gps family doctors obese children weight management parental communication uk health survey

Explore Full Topic Graph