The Swedish northern region has seen a rapid increase in children seeking help for gender dysphoria in recent years, according to medical professional Camilla Ernstsson.

Ms Ernstsson, who works as a nurse at a specialised centre in Umeå that deals with gender dysphoria among children, said that in 2013 the centre saw around one child per year, but the number has now increased to 16 to 17 patients a year, broadcaster SVT reports.

“There are many people who feel insecure and that’s why they are able to come to us after being assessed by a child and adolescent psychiatrist,” Ernstsson said.

“Most are biological girls, but there are boys too. What we do is to slow down puberty with injections. In some cases, we start a hormone treatment.”

“It is very important how we deal with young people and that we are not prejudiced,” she added.

Swedish Preschools Recast Children’s Gender in Social Engineering Experiment https://t.co/4WQVzTF8zL — Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) March 26, 2018

The University Hospital of Umeå, where the centre is located, claims that many patients wait until they are adults before going ahead with any plans to change gender but the ones who come as children are usually between 15 and 18 years old.

Sweden is often seen as one of the most progressive countries when it comes to transgender and LGBT issues with the neutral pronoun “hen” being commonly used in Swedish preschools where children are taught to use the hen pronoun as part of the government curriculum.

Transgender issues have even appeared in books for toddlers such as the book Hästen & Husse which features a man who likes to dress as a woman along with a horse which believes himself to be a dog.

Earlier this year in Uppsala, the government decided to push for creating the world’s first “LGBT-certified” sports stadium where staff will be trained in LGBT issues and will even receive an “LGBT diploma”.