This service is for children and young people aged 2 to 17th birthday with significant health problems related to obesity as part of a 2-year NHS England pilot.
Healthy Futures Inspiring Change
Children will be helped to review their lifestyle and make changes especially around diet and activity to support a healthier weight.
This clinic brings together medical, nursing, dietetic and psychology professionals, alongside social care and leading Cambridge obesity researchers to provide co-ordinated assessment and care. As well as providing expert treatment, the services will identify the factors causing obesity in children, considering their mental and physical health.
Attend Anywhere video consultation
Did you know your outpatient appointment for this service may now be done by video consultation using Attend Anywhere. This enables you to be able to attend your appointment from home, saving you time and money.
Conditions we treat
Children will receive specialist treatment under this new service at Addenbrookes that will consist of a tailored care packages developed with their family, which could include diet plans, mental health treatment and coaching. Children who are severely obese can develop difficulties such as Type 2 diabetes, breathing problems, sleep issues and mental health problems, which can dramatically impact their quality of life. Early action can also prevent long term health problems such as heart attacks, strokes and even cancer.
Referral information
Children and young people can be referred by their GP, hospital based referrers, a general paediatrician or another specialist team. The referral form can be found on Complications from Excess Weight in Children - CEW (Paediatrics) | CUH GP Portal (opens in a new tab) (Access is for registered user only).
Information on how to register can be found here (opens in a new tab).
We are unable to accept self-referrals. All referrals are reviewed and prioritised by a consultant.
Key referral criteria (must meet all 3):
- Child or young person (CYP) aged 2- 17th birthday with severe obesity
- Significant obesity-related comorbidity that would benefit from weight loss
- Family wants help to change lifestyle behaviours.
Information for children & Families attending the Clinic
What to expect if you come and see us in the clinic?
When you attend the Weston Centre, you will meet one of our very experienced Nurses who will ask you a few questions and measure you (parent’s height at your first visit, and child’s height, weight, blood pressure and pulse rate. If blood tests are likely to be performed at this visit, ‘numbing’ cream may be offered.
Patients will be assessed by a multi-disciplinary team and then offered 2-weekly follow-up sessions with dietetic and or psychology specialists. Follow-up sessions will be conducted remotely (by secure NHS video calls) where feasible.
As Addenbrookes Hospital is a University Hospital, our clinics are often attended by Health Care professionals (doctors and nurses) in training. Your child will be seen by a Consultant or Doctor at the late stages of their training, and may be accompanied by a Medical or Nursing student. You will be offered the option to not include students at your consultation.
Meet the team
The new service is led by Professor Ken Ong, an honorary consultant paediatric endocrinologist and the clinical lead for childhood obesity at the Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (CUH).
He said: “We are delighted that a new centre is being established in Cambridge for children and adolescents with complications of severe obesity. Currently, such children are assessed in separate specialist clinics, but there has been little or no support available for families to manage these conditions.
We are working in close partnership with another new CEW centre based at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital to provide a service across the East of England region.”
Dr Sandra Walton Betancourth - Consultant
Lucy Willis - Specialist Support Nurse
Sophie Barnett - Paediatric Obesity Dietitian
Viktoria Cestaro - Clinical Psychologist
Andrea Szabova - Assistant Psychologist
Tessa Saunders - Family Therapist
Juliet Larham - Family Support Worker
Nidhi Shukla - Data coordinator/Administrator
Rayna Serralheiro - Administrator
Matthew Rose - Respiratory Physiologist
Research and training
We work in partnership with the University of Cambridge, through the University Department of Paediatrics, Institute of Metabolic Sciences, and Medical Research Council Epidemiology Unit.
We are part of a centre for paediatric research in diabetes and endocrinology, leading or collaborating in a large number of national and international studies
