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

Almost a quarter of GPs are seeing children aged four or under who are obese, according to a survey of UK family doctors.

The “alarming” research also found that almost half (49%) of GPs have seen boys and girls up to the age of seven who have obesity, including a handful younger than a year old.

However, four out of five family doctors find it difficult to talk to children or their parents about the condition, in case such conversations make them feel upset, angry or ashamed.

Dr John Holden, the chief medical officer at the medical organisation MDDUS, which ran the survey, said: “These findings are an alarming confirmation of the growing crisis of childhood obesity across the country and the very real difficulties this creates in everyday GP consultations.”

The survey asked 540 family doctors about their experience of managing obesity, the explosion in the use of weight loss drugs and what widespread levels of dangerous overweight means for the NHS.

• Almost one in four (23%) said they had seen children aged zero to four where obesity was a clinical concern.
• Among the doctors, 81% have seen obesity in those between their first 12 months and the age of 11.
• Four in five (80%) find it somewhat or very challenging to talk to the parents of an obese child under the age of 16 about their weight and health, with only 10% saying that is easy to do.
• Nearly two thirds (65%) find it hard to talk to obese young people themselves, with just 20% saying that is easy.

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Source: The Guardian, 25 January 2026