Boy weighing 16st has died aged 13 after a blood clot formed in his leg and travelled to a lung
A 13-year-old boy died from a blood clot, caused by 'severe obesity', which travelled to his lung, the pathologist found
A BOY of 13 weighing 16st died when a blood clot formed in his leg and travelled to a lung.
A pathologist found there was no reason for the clot forming other than “severe” obesity.
But a coroner ruled the death was due to natural causes and no inquest was necessary — meaning it has not been officially recorded as obesity-related.
Post mortem notes show the boy, who has not been named at the request of his parents, gained weight from an early age. School nurses sent a warning note home after weighing him at ten, but it was allegedly never followed up on.
The boy had been suffering from swollen feet and visited his GP the day before his death earlier this year.
The post mortem found he had a body mass index of 42 and was twice the recommended weight when he died. The average 13-year-old lad weighs 7st 2lbs and has a BMI of around 19.
He was also shown to have an enlarged liver and evidence of fatty liver disease.
Dr Jude Oben, from London’s Royal free Hospital, said obese people were at higher risk of blood clots.
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He said: “The obesity constricts the blood flow in the legs and a clot forms due to sluggish flow. It breaks off and lodges in the pulmonary artery in the lung.”
Clots can also form after long periods without moving or due to genetic disorders.
Prof Alastair Sutcliffe, of University College of London Hospital, said: “The thought of a child dying before they are out of their teenage years due to obesity is truly shocking.”
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