Childhood Obesity increasing in the UK
According to Will Quince, Minister for Children and Families, UK, childhood obesity and obesity is one of the “biggest issues faced by the country”.
Thousands of children are facing “serious” and even “devastating” consequences as a result of weight gain during the pandemic, experts warn, as “alarming” figures reveal one in four 10- and 11-year-olds in England are obese.
The National Childhood Measurement Programme, which measures obesity prevalence among school-age pupils in reception class and year 6, found obesity levels rocketed in both year groups by more than 4 percentage points between 2019-20 and 2020-21.
Officials said the “significant” single-year increase in prevalence was the highest rise since the programme began 15 years ago.
The figures show that almost one in seven children are already obese when they begin primary school in England. Among reception-aged children, those aged four and five, the rates of obesity rose from 9.9% in 2019-20 to 14.4% in 2020-21.
By the time they are aged 10 or 11, more than a quarter are obese, according to NHS Digital. In just 12 months, the rate is up from 21% in 2019-20 to 25.5% in 2020-21.
