News

The latest figures from Public Health England’s National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP) reveals that child obesity is not improving or getting worse in England.

The prevalence of obesity in Reception (aged 4-5) across England is 9.1% for the 2014/15 period. This figure rises to 19.1% for children in Year 6 (aged 10-11).

Compared to the 2009/10 period, the 2014/15 Reception figures have slightly decreased from 9.83%. However, the Year 6 data presents a slight increase from 18.33% in 2009/10.

In the five year period to 2013/14, 9.49% of children in Reception on average were obese, while in the five years to 2014/15 this dropped marginally to 9.35%. Meanwhile, on average 19.00% of children in Year 6 in the five years to 2013/14 were obese, a figure which rose to 19.35% in the five years to 2014/15.

At a regional level, London (Reception, 10.1%/Year 6, 22.6%), the North East (10.1%/21.5%), the North West (9.6%/19.4%), and the West Midlands (10.2%/21.2%) all scored worse than the national average.

The East Midlands (8.6%/18.5%), East of England (8.2%/16.9), South East (7.9%/16.4%), South West (8.6%/16.4%), and Yorkshire & Humberside (8.8%/19.2%) all scored lower than or similarly to the national average.

Public Health England has also revealed a map detailing the relationship between density of fast food outlets and deprivation, which is available to view here. 

The full local authority breakdown, which includes inequalities data such as sex, deprivation and ethnic group, is available to view now on http://www.noo.org.uk/visualisation.