Children and young people identified as obese and their parents or carers should be given information about local lifestyle weight management programmes, new guidance from NICE has advised.

The new quality standard has been issued to help prevent childhood obesity and aid lifestyle weight management. Being overweight can lead to a child experiencing self-esteem and quality of life problems, leading to depression; obesity at a young age can lead to type 2 diabetes, which was until recent years found almost entirely in adults, says NICE.

‘Families and carers have an important role in supporting children and young people who are overweight or obese, which this standard recognises. Lifestyle and weight management programmes can support parents and carers to identify changes that can be made at home to tackle obesity and maintained over the long-term,’ commented NICE’s deputy chief executive, Professor Gill Leng.

‘These changes include healthy eating and getting the whole family to be more active. Tackling obesity in children and young people also benefits their future health. Up to 79 per cent of children who are obese in their teens are likely to be obese adults, which can lead to health problems in adulthood such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease and some cancers.’

In 2013/14, more than one in five English children aged four to five years at the start of primary school were overweight or obese, rising to more than one in three among children aged 10 to 11 years.

nice.org.uk/guidance/qs94