The study, which was funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), provides the first national picture of healthcare costs linked to children’s weight, using NHS electronic health records from more than 268,000 children aged between two and 15 years old across England. It found that childhood weight issues, affecting around 2.5 million children, cost the NHS an estimated £340 million each year.
The study shows that healthcare costs rise sharply after a child’s weight is formally recorded, suggesting that identifying weight issues triggers additional medical support, but only if appropriate services are in place.
The researchers tracked healthcare use in the year before and after children had their weight measured in GP practices, revealing the additional costs ('excess costs') compared to healthy-weight children.
Key findings:
- Four to five-year-olds with severe obesity had the highest excess costs at £472 per year;
- Girls with severe obesity cost more than boys (£253 vs £138 annually);
- Only White children showed clearly higher healthcare costs across all unhealthy weight groups;
- Healthcare use was substantially higher after weight was measured for underweight children, and moderately higher for children with severe obesity.
Read the full story on the Nuffield Department of Population Health website.