Many obese kids prone to strokes

As these children leave primary school, one in three is classified as clinically obese.

Health experts put the blame on parents. Entire families have been sent on courses to learn about healthy eating and receive advice on how to feed children, the Daily Mail reported Sunday.

Doctors say much of the problem is caused by parents who wean their babies off milk and feed them inappropriate foods, even mashing up high-salt, high-fat takeaways such as burgers and chips as baby food.

A survey covering less than half of Britain’s acute hospitals revealed more than 5,500 children under 16 having seen doctors for clinical obesity in five years. Four hundred of those were under five, and at least 40 of them were below one years of age.

Paul Sacher of the British Dietetic Association and chief research officer for MEND, a charity that runs obesity treatment and prevention programmes, said many parents simply did not know what they should be feeding their children.

He said: “I see children all the time who are being given a lolly, a chocolate bar or a packet of crisps.” Many children are suffering weight-related diseases that normally appear in later life such as breathing difficulties and diabetes.