Babies: Obesity

Department of Health written question – answered at on 21 July 2017.

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Photo of Jim Shannon Jim Shannon Shadow DUP Spokesperson (Human Rights), Shadow DUP Spokesperson (Health)

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that large babies are monitored for signs of incipient obesity as they grow older.

Photo of Steve Brine Steve Brine The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health

As part of the Healthy Child Programme, all new parents are given a personal child health record 'red book' at the birth of their child. The child’s growth should be measured and plotted using the centile chart in the ‘red book’ which will show early signs that a child’s weight is deviating from a normal trajectory and that they are gaining weight too quickly for their age. This forms part of a holistic clinical assessment and discussion between a health professional and the parent/carer. These practitioners assess family diet and activity patterns and provide individual and family intervention programmes to manage overweight and obesity in infancy and the early years including referral to specialists.

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