Too fat too young: A burden to themselves

By FIONA RAE

Last month's Herald series about childhood obesity in New Zealand was shocking for sure. One in seven pre-teens here is grossly overweight, setting them up for a lifetime of health problems - and burdening the health system.

It's bad. But, according to tonight's documentary Too Fat Too Young (TV One 9.30pm), it's worse in Britain where one in four children is said to be overweight.

Although a profusion of documentaries about obesity seems to be another side-effect of the epidemic, along with Type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure, this programme does offer a real look at the emotional impact of childhood obesity and explores different ways of attacking it, successful or otherwise.

What it doesn't show are Government or health authority initiatives to try to effect societal change.

The programme profiles three youngsters - two teenagers and a 10-year-old - who are exploring three different avenues of weight loss. The two boys, Daniel and Barnaby, are British, while Cari is American. The children's parents, doctors and health experts are also interviewed and a team that is carrying out research into children's attitudes to food, and fat kids, shares some of its findings.

Mention is made of the easy availability of fast food. We are, literally, spoiled for choice. "We have become McDonald's-ised," says Cari's doctor in the US.

The three children profiled are sad individuals. Poor Daniel weighs 92kg (15 stone). As a test in a high-tech "Bod Pod" shows, he is 52 per cent fat. His bones have had to grow thicker to support his weight, but his joints are under strain, making him susceptible to arthritis later in life.

But worse is the fact that he is depressed. He has been bullied at school, has few friends and has taken time off. He says he has thought about killing himself. He is just 10.

Barnaby, at 15, weighs 139kg (22 stone). He has tried various diets, but to no avail. He is also depressed and lonely, as is 16-year-old Cari from Virginia, who weighs 117kg (18.5 stone). She is shorter than she should be because of pressure on the spine and has developed sleep apnoea.

In England, Daniel starts on a retraining exercise, but the problem of his depression has to be tackled first. He also begins to learn the "traffic light" system: which foods are red (bad), orange (in moderation) or green (good).

Meanwhile, Barnaby has persuaded his parents to pay for a five-week Fat Camp. Neither of them is optimistic that he will lose weight.

Cari, on the other hand, goes for the most radical weight-loss solution of all, a Donna. That is, she is seen in graphic detail having a stomach-stapling operation. It certainly effects the most physical change of the three - she emerges, butterfly-like, looking slightly like Laura Dern. However, she seems to have swapped one food disorder for another.

In the end, you are left feeling very sorry for these kids who have had a bad start. For them, weight loss will be a lifetime struggle.