Rare defect caused death of 'obese' child

A three-year-old girl widely reported to have died of obesity was actually the victim of a genetic abnormality, it emerged today.

Her case was highlighted in a Commons health committee report on the UK's obesity epidemic, which warned that obese children could become the first generation to die before their parents.

The claim prominently featured on TV and in newspapers last month.

Leading scientists spoke out on Radio 4's Today programme describing the MPs' report as "misleading and irresponsible" and accused the committee of heaping guilt on the child's parents.

Although scientists admit the girl was "clearly severely obese at a very early age" they say it is "incontrovertible" that a rare genetic abnormality was ultimately responsible for her death.

The victim was a Bengali, from east London. She should have weighed around 2st 4lb, but was about six stone.

The case was reported to the committee by Dr Sheila McKenzie, a consultant at the Royal London Hospital.

It was also referred to experts at Cambridge University's unit in Addenbrooke's Hospital.

Dr Sadaf Farooqi, of Addenbrooke's, told the Today programme : " We were sent information about this child who was clearly obese at a very early age and running into problems.

"It is an incontrovertible fact that a genetic defect was the cause of this child's problem."

Dr Farooqi said she did not hear of the case again until the newspaper headlines.

She added: "I was appalled and felt immediately for the parents and family of this child.

"The implication was that the child had been overfed, with bad parents, resulting in severe obesity and her death. That is not true."

Dr Farooqi suggested the MPs "should have considered how obesity has emerged as a medical problem in a very short interval and that is down to genetic and biological factors".

Professor Tom Sanders, nutrition expert at King's College London, told Today: "I think the select committee was to some extent duped.

"They were fed a lot of information-by pressure groups." The committee is chaired by Labour MP David Hinchliffe, who said its report had been misrepresented.

The MPs did not say or imply that the girl had died from an unhealthy diet, he insisted.

"We got this evidence from a leading clinician, one of a limited number specialising in obesity," he said.

"Her evidence indicated the extreme concern we need to have about the problems of obesity".

"I am left with the impression that Dr Farooqi and Professor Sanders must have been asleep for the past year when we as a committee have been beavering away on this on this matter, taking evidence from all sorts of people, including people who have concern about genetic and biological factors.

It saddens me that we are being criticised, I believe unfairly, by people who have obviously read tabloid headlines and not troubled to read the detail of our report."

Mr Hinchliffe said he was "astonished" at suggestions the committee was hijacked by the food industry which was "frightened silly" by the report's conclusions.

Of the girl's parents, he added: "I certainly feel sorry for the way in which they have been upset by the manner in which the media are implying that our committee suggested that this child died of an unhealthy diet.

"It is quite apparent from looking at our report - if people read our report - we did not either say that or indeed imply it and neither did the doctor."