Ministers are facing fresh pleas to tackle childhood obesity after new NHS figures revealed that almost one in five year-six pupils in England (19.0%) is now obese. The 2010-11 figure is up slightly on the 18.7% recorded the year before and continues a steady increase for 10- and 11-year-olds since the first comparable data was collected in 2006-07, when 17.5% were obese.
However, the latest annual results from the NHS’s National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP) also showed that the proportion of obese four- and five-year-olds in reception classes had fallen slightly year-on-year, from 9.8% in 2009-10 to 9.4%.
The statistics contained some small snippets of good news. The share of reception children classed as overweight has also fallen slightly in the past year, from 13.3% to 13.2%, as has the proportion of year-six pupils, from 14.6% to 14.4%.
But one-third of pupils – 33.4% – are either overweight or obese by the time they reach year six, an increase on the 33.3% recorded the previous year, driven by a rise in the obese category.
The findings prompted Anne Milton, the public health minister, to say: “We need to give children the best start in life, so it is good that there are fewer obese children in reception, and we hope this is the start of a trend.”
The coalition’s recent Call to Action report aims to reduce obesity by 2020, Milton added, and a new phase of the Change4Life campaign next month will try to help families follow a balanced diet. Department of Health sources insisted that despite some gloomy findings the results showed that “overall levels of overweight and obesity remain stable”.
Tam Fry, the spokesman for the National obesity Forum, said: “The primary school reception obesity figure is the best news for many years. It may be showing that parents are finally getting the message that feeding their infants and toddlers good food is having a real effect.”
However, the increase in older children’s weight levels were a great concern, Fry added. “Some 82% of obese children go on to become obese adults and doubling the obesity rate in six years of school has to be an indictment of the current healthy schools policy. With today’s economic climate, where healthy food is costing more at home, school food standards must not be allowed to fall.”
But other obesity experts did not share in the cautious optimism. Paul Sacher, a pediatric dietician and the chief research and development officer at Mend, which helps children and families to adopt healthier lifestyles, said: “With childhood obesity levels rising, it is hugely concerning that not nearly enough is being done to turn the tide on this very serious health epidemic. With one in three children overweight or obese in the UK, the government must intervene to protect the health of our nation’s children and prevent this crisis from continuing to spiral out of control.”
Ministers needed to act to ensure continued funding for community-based weight-control initiatives such as the Mend programme in order to prevent children becoming and remaining obese adults, added Sacher.
“With the health consequences of obesity, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease and some types of cancer, currently costing the NHS £5.1bn per year, the significant financial and human costs associated with obesity have never been clearer,” said Sacher. The ongoing upheaval in the NHS in England, including the abolition of primary care trusts – many of which have recently decommissioned Mend services – could lead to the loss of vital health services for children, he added.
London has the highest prevalence of obese children in both reception and year six, at 11.1% and 21.9% respectively, while the South Central NHS strategic health authority area has the lowest for both, at 8.1% and 16.5%.
The NCMP data also shows that childhood obesity is most common in deprived and urban areas.
Diane Abbott, Labour’s shadow public health minister, demanded tough action to end what she called “the chips and PlayStation 3 culture”, and accused ministers of doing far too little.
“What is needed is nothing short of a revolution and yet the government is really struggling with the basics. The government has axed its expert advisory group on obesity, is continuing to hollow out Change4Life, and has got fast-food firms writing government policy for them with ‘responsibility deals’,” Abbott said.
“Equally concerning is the way the government is eroding school-meal standards, ruling out a ban on trans-fats, and is rejecting the Food Standard Agency’s plans for reducing saturated fat content. The government isn’t even heading in the right direction on this issue,” she added.
