Apples for Health- Obese toddlers being put on diets

Obese toddlers being put on diets

SYDNEY, Feb. 6 (UPI) -- Australian doctors say a growing number of children as young as 12 months are being treated for obesity.

The Children's Hospital at Westmead said it is treating 150 children aged between 1 and 16 in the hospital's weight management clinic, some with severe weight-related issues such as sleep apnea and diabetes, The Daily Telegraph newspaper in Sydney reported.

There is a 12-month waiting list for treatment by the clinic's psychologists, dietitians and physiotherapists, the report said.

Pediatrician Dr. Shirley Alexander has called for morbidly obese children to be placed under child protection. "We are seeing children who can't walk properly or wipe themselves because they are obese,'' Alexander said.

She said overfeeding and large portion sizes are more to blame for childhood than the consumption of junk food.