The mother of an autistic boy with an insatiable appetite has shared how being prescribed weight-loss drugs has transformed his life
A desperate single mum who “cried and begged” doctors for help has finally found some relief after putting her son on “life-changing” weight loss jabs.
Ben*, 12, tipped the scales at 19st 7lb (123.9kg) on March 9 – more than three times the 6st 2lb average for a boy his age. His mother, Amanda*, lived in constant terror that his spiralling weight meant she would have to bury her own child.
But after starting a specialised NHS weight loss injection program, Ben has already shed over a stone, dropping to 18st 1lb (115.1kg).
For Amanda, the treatment has been nothing short of a miracle, offering a lifeline to her severely autistic, non-verbal son. She first noticed Ben’s insatiable appetite when he was just four years old. As he grew, his hunger became entirely unmanageable.
He suffers from hyperphagia – a condition where a person’s brain fails to receive signals that their stomach is full, leaving the person in a state of constant, extreme starvation.
“He would go from being the most placid young man to raging and lashing out, headbutting walls, screaming and crying, going into total meltdown,” Amanda, from South Yorkshire, told the Mirror.
Ben also has Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID), whereby a person avoids certain foods, potentially due to sensory issues. Meal plans proved tricky to follow, and Ben was discharged from this service at age five.
Locking the kitchen cupboards and fridge did nothing to stop his desperate search for food, with Ben once ripping her kitchen door from the hinges.
The family were referred to a dietitian who provided diet and lifestyle advice, but it quickly became apparent that this wasn’t the right approach. In lockdown, Ben’s “insatiable” appetite became increasingly obvious. By this point, the six-year-old was eating “pretty much from the minute he woke up until he went to sleep at night”.
His life was entirely ruled by food, with Ben regularly stealing food from his mother’s plate, and on days out, he would take food directly from strangers’ tables in restaurants. Because of his size, he was barred from the theme park rollercoasters he loved, leaving him deeply distressed.
In 2023, the family were referred to a community service that offered help with weight loss and support to boost “confidence and self-esteem”. However, following a consultation, Amanda was informed that Ben’s complexities meant he wouldn’t be able to access group sessions, with only the weekly educational video calls being available to the family.
Ben is non-verbal but can speak a little Makaton, a language that uses symbols, signs, and speech, and has begun using an iPad as an Augmentative Alternative Communication (AAC) device.
As a mum of two children with additional needs, Amanda felt entirely isolated, as she was left swimming against the current in a world with no suitable services. To make matters worse, she faced cruel judgment from strangers and medical professionals alike.
“Our old paediatrician was another person who was extremely judgmental,” Amanda said. “He would make comments to me at appointments, such as ‘You do realise you are killing your child?’ This upset me greatly. The one person who was supposed to understand and support me didn’t.”
Despite the unhelpful comments, Amanda kept “holding her head high”, knowing she was doing everything physically possible to help her son.
The breakthrough came last summer, when the family was referred to the Complications of Excess Weight (CEW) clinic at Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust.
There, Dr Dita Aswani listened to Amanda’s plight without a shred of judgment and suggested weight-loss injections. For Amanda, the choice was an absolute “no-brainer”.
“It was simple,” she explained. “If we did not do something soon, I faced the terrifying and very real prospect of having to watch my own child die from a weight-related illness.”
Ben was started off on a very low dosage, with the goal of safely losing around 1kg per week. The results have been instantaneous and life-changing.
His constant food-seeking behaviour has stopped, his mood has vastly improved, and outings no longer have to be planned around Ben having to eat.
The holistic support offered alongside the medication includes access to a registered sleep nurse, a dietitian, dentists, and financial advice.
The family has also been referred for genetic testing to get to the root cause of Ben’s obesity and hyperphagia.
Amanda and Ben are far from alone. Glamour model Katie Price revealed earlier this year that her 23-year-old son Harvey, who suffers from Prader-Willi syndrome, causing chronic hunger, would also be starting supervised weight loss jabs.
Recent NHS data highlights the sheer scale of the crisis facing British children.
6,500 children as young as four have required urgent treatment at specialist NHS weight management clinics since 2021. Of these, 423 four-year-olds treated at these clinics weighed an average of 5st 3lb (33kg) – a weight more typical for a 10-year-old.
406 children under 18 have been prescribed weight-loss jabs, with the youngest patient being just 11 years old.
Severe health complications are skyrocketing, with 17 per cent suffering from high blood pressure, and 6 per cent developing Type 2 diabetes. An additional 17.5pc of children had abnormal levels of fat in their blood – an early indicator of heart disease.
Amanda strongly believes that weight loss injections are a vital, positive tool when used correctly.
To critics who argue that 12-year-olds are too young for the jabs, she has a direct, uncompromising message: “Just mind your business!”
“Children’s weight should never be a topic of conversation in a negative light. People should not judge someone without first experiencing the life of that person they are judging. It is not always a cut-and-dry reason as to why someone could be obese, and these injections are certainly not the easy way out.
“There is education along the way, along with permanent lifestyle changes being made. If someone needed antibiotics that would not be judged, why should weight loss treatment be any different?”
Do you have a story to share? Email me at julia.banim@reachplc.com
