The latest figures for the 2019/20 school year, published by NHS Digital, show that 13.3 per cent of Reception-aged children living in the most deprived areas were obese compared to 6.0 per cent of those living in the least deprived areas. In Year 6, this figure increased to 27.5 per cent of obese children living in the poorest areas of England, compared to 11.9 per cent who live in better-off neighbourhoods.
The overall statistics represent a worrying trend, with childhood obesity figures reaching a record high.
The report found that the obesity rate for Reception children - aged four and five - has risen from 9.7 to 9.9 per cent.
For pupils in Year 6, 21 per cent are now overweight or obese, up from a previous high of 20.2 per cent the year before.
In both age groups, boys have a higher obesity prevalence than girls, with 10.1 per cent of four- and five year-old boys classified as obese, compared to 9.7 per cent of girls. In Year 6, 23.6 per cent of boys were obese compared to 18.4 per cent of girls.
Tam Fry, chair of the National Obesity Forum told Nursery World that it’s the ‘worst news ever’ for anyone who is concerned about children’s weight, and confirmed the figures were 'a record high'.
Speaking about the Reception-aged children he said, ‘This is an indictment because we shouldn’t be having four-year-olds who are obese in the first place.
‘The easiest time to influence eating and exercise habits is when they are in the care of their parents or carers. They have the greatest advantage in making sure they eat the right food and have the right amount of exercise because if you leave it – and it has been left over the past 20 years – you will have these figures at aged five.
'And the problem is that there’s an additional increase from five to 10. So schools' health and weight policies have not had any effect at all, in fact the opposite, and children are putting on more weight – along with teenagers in Secondary school - which is why we have 30 per cent of men and 29 per cent of women who are obese today.’
He added, ‘The Government is guilty of not paying attention to the first 1,001 days in a child’s life. It is now known that those critical days from conception to the age of one are hugely important. If that area was addressed, we wouldn’t have the problem we have now. With 50 percent of mothers going into pregnancy overweight, that is the beginning of the problem.’
Rebecca Tobi, registered nutritionist and project manager at the Food Foundation, said, ‘The latest findings from the National Child Measurement Programme for the academic year 2019-2020 highlight deeply concerning levels of inequality in the UK, with children from the most deprived areas now more than twice as likely to be living with obesity as their peers from the least deprived areas.
'With Covid-19 likely to push many more families into financial difficulty, it’s vital that the Government commits to implementing the National Food Strategy’s recommendations to safeguard children’s health and food security, such as expanding the remit of schemes like Healthy Start which support low-income households to access nutritious food for their young children.’
The Government’s 2016 Childhood Obesity Plan stated the aim to halve childhood obesity and to reduce the gap in obesity between children from the most and least deprived areas, by 2030. However, according to a report by the National Audit Office (NAO) published in September, progress towards the goal has been ‘slow’ and uncoordinated, while child obesity rates continue to worsen in some parts of the UK.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said, ‘We are determined to tackle obesity across all ages and we have already taken significant action - cutting sugar from half of drinks on sale, funding exercise programmes in schools and working with councils to tackle child obesity locally.
‘Our ambitious obesity strategy includes banning unhealthy food adverts on TV before 9pm and we will shortly be consulting on extending this to a total ban online to help children and their parents make healthy choices.’