Obesity levels drop in Year 6 pupils but still not back to pre-pandemic levels
More than one in three children in England are above a healthy weight when obesity and overweight NHS figures are taken together.
The proportion of 10 and 11-year-olds who are overweight and obese has dropped, but is still not as low as before the pandemic, NHS data shows.
Obesity levels in Year 6 in England fell from 23.4% of pupils in 2021/22 to 22.7% in 2022/23, but are still higher than the 2019/20 pre-pandemic level of 21%.
When obesity and overweight figures are taken together, 36.6% of children (more than one in three) are above a healthy weight. This figure is also higher than the 35.1% in 2019/20.
The new data also showed that the prevalence of obesity in Reception-aged children (ages four and five) fell from from 10.1% in 2021/22 to 9.2% in 2022/23.
This is lower than in 2018/19 and 2019/20, and shows a continued decline.
Looking at the overall data and splitting it by gender, boys are more likely to be overweight than girls.
For boys in Reception, obesity prevalence was 9.3%, compared with 9% of girls.
For boys in Year 6, it was 25.1%, compared with 20.1% of girls.
Meanwhile, children living in the most deprived areas of England are twice as likely to be obese as those in the most affluent regions.
Obesity levels were 12.4% for Reception children in the most deprived areas, compared with 5.8% of those living in the least deprived.
For children in Year 6, levels were 30.2% in the most deprived, compared with 13.1% in the least deprived.
The proportion of children in Year 6 living with obesity was highest in the North East (25.8%), the West Midlands (25.2%) and London (24.8%).
It was lowest in the South West and the South East (both 19.4%).
The National Child Measurement Programme data further showed that the proportion of children in Year 6 who are underweight has increased slightly, from 1.5% in 2021/22 to 1.6% in 2022/23, and is the highest recorded rate since 2009/10.
