Meet the Big Body Squad, the growing army of workers looking after the UKâ€™s obese population too fat to care for themselves

With 15 million obese Britons, condition will cost the UK Â£27bn by 2016
Number of ambulances for obese patients has risen by 35% since 2009
New programme follows those such as 40-stone Denise Ecclestone, who has not left her house in seven years and requires 24 hour care

By
Rachel Reilly

PUBLISHED:

06:23 EST, 9 April 2013

|

UPDATED:

06:56 EST, 9 April 2013

There is a secret and steadily growing number of Britons that live as prisoners in their own home.

They are so obese they cannot leave their house, and in some cases, even their own bedroom.

Now the subject of a new Channel 5 series, Big Body Squad follows the lives of those who are so large they cannot carry out everyday tasks, as well as the expert help they draft in.

Trapped: Denise Ecclestone requires constant care so husband Eddie (pictured) has drafted in expert help

Denise's husband Eddie gets well needed respite from his caring role when Linda and Andrea (pictured) visit each day

Deniseâ€™s husband Eddie gets well needed respite from his caring role when Linda and Andrea (pictured) visit each day

For the first time in history, obesity is killing more people than malnutrition.

Around 15 million Britons are obese and it is estimated that this will cost the UK a staggering Â£27 billion by 2016.

There are currently 800 purpose-built
big body ambulances in the UK and the number is steadily rising,
costing the UK taxpayer millions each year.

Other
services touched on in the show include specialist shoe-makers who are
now catering to the those with fat ankles and feet as well as companies
who are using military science to develop extra strong harnesses and
hoists to mobilise those who cannot move themselves.

At 40 stone, Denise Ecclestone, 50, who lives in Tamworth in the West Midlands hasnâ€™t left her house for seven years and has been confined to one room for the past 12 months. She requires a constant supply of oxygen because of the pressure the excess weight places on her body.

â€˜The weight went on when I damaged my spine and it started to crumble,â€™ says the former nurse and mother of three. â€˜I became very depressed when I felt that everything was being taken away.â€™

Luckily however, Deniseâ€™s husband Eddie has fought for her to have specialist care and now, instead of receiving staff chosen by the local council, she receives Â£1,300 a month to pay for carers she interviewed and chose herself.

Teenager Callum is waging war on his waistline at a specialist residential camp int he North of England

Working out: Callum is put through his paces as he endeavors to reduce his 35 stone weight

Each day two female carers, Linda and
Andrea, visit Denise to give her a full body wash to prevent infections
developing which could could further compromise her health. It is also a
break for Eddie, who admits that caring for his wife is stressful at
times.

Later in the programme, viewers meet 17-year-old Callum, who at 35 stone has embarked on a residential course open to NHS and private patients.

Run by weight management consultant Professor Paul Gately, the course aims to change attitudes towards food and exercise. Callumâ€™s aim is to lose 20 kilos by the end of his stay.

He gained weight when his grandmother died just before he started secondary school. His increasing waist size became the butt of bulliesâ€™ cruel jokes and so a vicious circle of overeating began.

Around a third of British children are now obese and roughly 300 British children are diagnosed with type 2 diabetes each year, a disease once only associated with middle-aged adults.

Carol Davies is so overweight she cannot get to the hospital without specially-trained paramedics equipped to deal with obese patients

Big business: Steve Burton (centre, back) and his team work to get overweight people where they need to be

Viewers also meet Carol Davies, 52, who has not left her second-floor flat for a year since she hit 20 stone. Previously very active â€“ enjoying swimming and walking â€“ she quickly gained the weight after tearing a ligament in her foot.

She too relies on her husband Steve for everyday care, but needs to visit hospital for a check-up and he is unable to carry her down to the ground floor.

Thankfully, specially-trained ambulance worker Steve Burton and his team are drafted in and use their cutting-edge equipment to manoeuvre Carol down the narrow flights of stairs to an ambulance that has been designed to transport even the most obese patients.