Overweight girls ‘more likely to see GP about musculoskeletal problems’

The director of the Obesity Health Alliance said: ‘Primary school-age children should be running around the playground, not sitting in a doctor’s waiting room in pain.’ Photograph: Stuart Boulton/Alamy

Girls aged between four and 11 who are overweight or obese are more likely to see a GP at least once about musculoskeletal problems than their healthy weight peers, research suggests.

Pupils in reception year who had a body mass index considered overweight were 24% more likely to see a doctor at least once for a musculoskeletal issue while their peers who were living with obesity were 67% more likely to do so than girls with a healthy weight, the study found.