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Last broadcast on Fri, 23 Apr 2010, 01:05 on BBC One (except HD) (see all broadcasts).
Synopsis
From obesity to alcohol misuse, from rotting baby teeth to hearing problems caused by passive smoking - Britain's largest children's hospital is treating younger and younger children for health problems which are ultimately preventable. Many are the result of kids' lifestyles and are, according to the experts, causing them unnecessary suffering.
Five-year-old Kaitlyn is having nearly half her teeth extracted because she's been consuming half a mug of tomato ketchup every day, 13-year-old Macaulay has been drinking half a bottle of vodka every Friday night, while five-year-old Leon weighs the same as an average 17-year-old.
With unprecedented access to Alder Hey Children's Hospital in Liverpool, Panorama meets the kids and the paediatricians treating them, and follows them home in an attempt to uncover the root cause of their problems. Reporter Richard Bilton soon discovers that some of the basic health messages from the doctors are not getting through to the parents.
The experts' forecast for our children is bleak: this generation is in danger of being the first to die before their parents- and all because of the way we live.
Childhood illness 'epidemic'
Five-year-old's battle with obesity
At just five, Leon is the average weight of a 17-year-old boy. His mother believes he has an underlying health issue, his doctor is not convinced.
'Vodka makes me feel better'
At just 13, Macaulay said he regularly drank half a bottle of vodka. After one drinking incident, he ended up in Liverpool's Alder Hey Hospital. But his mother says she cannot control her son's behaviour away from the family home.
Several months after speaking to Panorama, his mother says Macaulay, now 14, is not drinking.
Girl loses eight teeth to sugary snacks
Doctors at Liverpool's Alder Hey Hospital say they are being forced to pull out rotting baby teeth under general anaesthetic in growing numbers. It is one of many preventable conditions they routinely treat.
Spoilt Rotten? kids - an update
Several months after filming, Panorama catches up with some of the children featured in the programme.
Credits
- Reporter
- Richard Bilton
- Producer
- Janice Finch
- Executive Producer
- Allen Jewhurst
- Executive Producer
- Steve Boulton
Broadcasts
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Tue 13 Apr 201021:00
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Fri 23 Apr 201001:05
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