Childhood Obesity in the United Kingdom 81These studies investigated the health economics of 10 Western European
countries in relation to obesity. The results showed obesity-related burdens of
up to 10.4 billion euros. Reported relative economic burdens ranged from
0.09% to 0.61% of each country’s gross domestic product [25]. In 2006/2007
obesity and obesity-related ailments cost an estimate £148 million for in-
patients admissions in England [26]. The National Obesity Observatory’s
report on the economic burden of obesity (2010) quoted the estimates of the
direct National Health Service (NHS) costs of treating overweight and obesity,
and related morbidity in England as ranging from £479.3 million in 1998 to
£4.2 billion in 2007. The estimated indirect costs (arising from the impact of
obesity, for example due to a loss of productivity) ranged from £2.6 billion to
£15.8 billion [27]. The most recent data suggests that with the current rate of
obesity and overweight conditions, the cost to the NHS could increase from
between £6bn and £8bn in 2015 to between £10bn and £12bn in 2030 [28].
Healthcare costs in the US relating to obesity are similarly alarming. In 2010
reported estimates for these costs were in the region of $315.8 billion per year
[29].
Managing childhood obesity has become a priority for the NHS [30, 31]
and also for many public health bodies across the world. It is recognised that
‘prevention is better than cure’ and indeed many campaigns have been focused
on raising the awareness among families, school and health professionals in
identifying overweight/obesity and how to prevent it. It is beyond the scope of
this chapter to discuss all the public health interventions that have been
proposed in preventing obesity rates, and we shall focus instead on treating
obesity. An important aspect of managing childhood obesity is identifying
which children need treatment and referral to specialist service providers. The
Obesity Services for Children and Adolescents (OSCA) network published a
consensus statement on assessment of childhood obesity in secondary care
[32]. The paper delivers an expert opinion on which children should be seen in
secondary care, and provides an algorithm for investigation. The options for
treating obese children include lifestyle modification programmes (diet,
exercise and behaviour modification), pharmacotherapies, and more recently –
surgical interventions [33].