Erratum

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Endocrinology
• Public Health
• Obesity Medicine

Background:

• Childhood obesity is a significant public health issue in England, affecting 15% of children aged 2-15.
• Excess weight in childhood often persists into adulthood, with high rates of continued obesity.
• NHS England's specialist Complications of Excess Weight (CEW) clinics offer a novel, person-centred model for severe pediatric obesity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of specialist Complications of Excess Weight (CEW) clinics for children and young people (CYP) with severe obesity.
• To compare weight trajectories and health-related quality of life in CYP attending CEW services versus a matched control group.
• To assess the impact of individual characteristics and clinic variations within the CEW cohort.

Main Methods:

• A matched, observational cohort study design was employed.
• Coarsened exact matching used referral characteristics (age, sex, deprivation, baseline weight, height, calendar year).
• Multilevel regression (linear mixed models) analyzed weight trajectories (BMI, kg, BMI-SDS) and health-related quality of life (PedsQL).

Main Results:

• CEW clinic participation was associated with slower BMI growth compared to the matched control group (n=4,550 vs. n=3,517).
• BMI differences increased over 24 months, reaching -3.22 kg/m² relative to controls.
• Health-related quality of life improved among CEW service users, with child-reported PedsQL scores increasing from 54.1 to 57.1.

Conclusions:

• CYP attending CEW clinics demonstrated more favorable weight trajectories than matched controls.
• Improvements in health-related quality of life were observed in CEW service users.
• The findings suggest significant benefits of the specialized CEW clinic model for managing pediatric obesity and its complications.