Severe obesity levels have hit a record high among Year 6 children

English children are fatter than ever: More than 24,000 10 to 11-year-olds are ‘severely obese’ with those in poor areas TWICE as likely to be overweight as their rich schoolmates

  • Nearly 200,000 children in England are overweight or obese, data reveals
  • Some 4.2 per cent of 10 to 11-year-olds are severely obese – the fattest category
  • This percentage is the highest ever and is up more than a third since 2007  
  • Has your child been told they’re fat by the National Child Measurement Programme? Email [email protected]

English children are fatter than ever as official data today revealed a record number of 10 to 11-year-olds are now severely obese.

NHS figures show the proportion of children who are severely obese has risen by more than a third since 2007.

It is now at 4.2 per cent, the highest ever level – 24,437 children in England fall into the fattest possible category. 

The London borough of Brent has the highest level of severely obese children, with a rate of 7.8 per cent – more than five times higher than 1.5 per cent in the lowest, Richmond upon Thames.

And more than a fifth of children of school-leaving age are obese, as well as 9.5 per cent of four to five-year-olds, which experts have called ‘totally unacceptable’. 

Childhood obesity rates in the most deprived areas are more than double that of those in the least deprived areas, the figures also show.

Data from NHS Digital has today revealed more than 24,000 10 to 11-year-old children in England are severely obese, and the problem is worse in poorer areas (map showing the percentage of severely obese Year 6 children in local authorities across England)

The Government has vowed to tackle childhood obesity, which is affecting more children than ever, data revealed today

The latest data from the National Child Measurement Programme, overseen by Public Health England (PHE), shows 4.2 per cent of 10 and 11-year-olds in England were defined as severely obese last year.

The rate of severe obesity among Year 6 pupils has increased by more than a third, from 3.2 per cent when the data was first released in 2007.

An 11-year-old girl who was severely obese would typically weigh 9st 4lb – two stone heavier than she should be. 

A severely obese boy of the same age would weigh just under nine stone. Boys tend to be lighter at that age as they often haven’t started puberty, unlike most girls.


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One in five (20.1 per cent) Year 6 children were either obese or severely obese last year as they prepared to leave primary school, the figures show.

The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) said this was ‘totally unacceptable’.

More than a quarter (26.8 per cent) of 10 and 11-year-olds were obese in the most deprived areas in England, compared to 11.7 per cent in the least deprived areas.

Among children in reception, aged four to five years old, the rate of obesity was 12.8 per cent in the most deprived areas and just 5.7 per cent in the least deprived.

The proportion of overweight and obese children aged four to five was 22.4 per cent last year and has remained relatively stable over the last decade, the figures show.

WHERE THE MOST CHILDREN ARE SEVERELY OBESE 

Source: NHS Digital 

WHERE THE FEWEST CHILDREN ARE SEVERELY OBESE

Source: NHS Digital 

The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health has called it ‘totally unacceptable’ that more than one in five children are obese by the time they leave primary school (map showing the percentage of severely obese reception children in local authorities across England)

The Government has introduced a series of measures, including a tax on sugary soft drinks, and is considering banning TV advertising for junk food before 9pm. 

Hospitals in England have also vowed to slash the number of sugary drinks they sell to reduce obesity among patients, staff and visitors. 

Dr Alison Tedstone, chief nutritionist at PHE, said: ‘These continuing high rates of childhood obesity, combined with widening health inequalities, highlight why the government is taking bold steps to tackle this crisis.

‘This threat to our children’s health has been decades in the making – we’re moving in the right direction but reversing it will not happen overnight.’

WHICH REGION HAS THE MOST OVERWEIGHT CHILDREN? (Percentage of overweight and obese children combined)

Source: NHS Digital 

Dr Max Davie, officer for health promotion for the RCPCH, added: ‘The Government has already shown it is serious about tackling childhood obesity.

‘Providing the actions set out in Chapter Two of the Childhood Obesity Plan are enacted, such as preventing junk food advertising on television before 9pm, I am reassured that these stats will begin moving in the right direction.

‘However, as the figures have shown today, 20 per cent of children are already obese by the time they leave primary school and this is totally unacceptable.

‘Access and funding of high quality weight management services are urgently needed now if we are to ensure no child slips through the net and all children, no matter where they live, are given the same opportunity to good health.’

Public Health Minister Steve Brine said: ‘Obesity is a problem that has been decades in the making – one that will take significant effort across government, schools, families and wider society to address.

‘We cannot expect to see a reversal in trends overnight – but we have been clear that we are willing to do whatever it takes to keep children healthy and well in this country.

‘We have already removed tonnes of sugar from children’s diets through the sugar tax, which has funded vital school sports and breakfast programmes, and this summer we announced the second chapter of our childhood obesity strategy with a series of bold plans to halve child obesity by 2030.’

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