Endocrine Abstracts

Background: One in 3 children in England leave primary school living with overweight/ obesity and this is associated with increased risk of a number of comorbidities. We conducted a survey of health professionals treating children in secondary or tertiary care within the Wessex Deanery to better understand the impact of managing children living with obesity on their services.

Method: An electronic survey was emailed to general paediatric consultants, tertiary paediatric specialty consultant, community paediatric consultants, anaesthetists, surgeons and specialist nurses working in 9 different hospitals in Wessex asking for anonymised feedback regarding the impact of childhood obesity on care provided in their service. Thematic analysis of free text answers was conducted by a consultant clinic psychologist.

Results: We received 102 responses; 72.3% from consultants/ specialty doctors, 18.8% from specialty nurses and 8.9% from other professional groups. Responders were from 9 different hospitals. Only 50.5% of responders said they routinely discuss weight/ signpost to resources if children noted to be living with obesity present to their service. The most commonly given reason for this was lack of confidence/ knowledge on how to do so (56.9%) followed by concern regarding causing offence/ damaging patient relationship (43.1%). 46.7% of general paediatricians who responded said they did not have any service to assess or treat children living with obesity as recommended by NICE guidance. 100% of the general paediatricians stated current provision did not meet local need. Thematic analysis of free text responses looking at healthcare professionals perspective on the impact of obesity in paediatric patients identified key themes including clinical and procedural challenges, psychosocial and mental health effects, and need for increased time and resources. The need to address social determinants of obesity and the need for multidiciplinary support was also highlighted.

Discussion: Childhood obesity has a significant impact on child health services, often making care more complex or time consuming. Additional training needs to be offered to clinicians looking after children to overcome gaps in knowledge or confidence addressing this issue. Commissioning of additional services to manage children living with additional weight is also urgently needed.