One in three children in Bristol are overweight or obese. New figures show nearly 20 per cent of kids in the city are obese, with 13.5 per cent being overweight.
Bristol has the highest proportion of overweight or obese kids in the area, with South Gloucestershire standing at 29.2 per cent, North Somerset at 29.7 per cent and Bath and North East Somerset at 29.2 per cent. The England average is 35.8 per cent.
The figures show that, across the country, obesity is twice as prevalent amongst children living in the most deprived areas of the country. Some 22.1 per cent of Year 6 children were obese in the 2023/24 academic year, according to the latest figures from the NHS.
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A further 13.8 per cent were overweight, meaning that over a third (35.8 per cent) were either obese or overweight. More than a fifth (22.1 per cent) of Reception-aged children – those aged four and five – were also obese or overweight.
Sandwell in the West Midlands had the highest rates of obesity amongst 10-and-11-year-olds in the country, with 31.0 of Year 6 pupils attending school in Sandwell being obese. A further 13.2 per cent were overweight, meaning that 44.2 per cent were either overweight or obese.
In Knowsley, Merseyside, 30.7 per cent of 10-and-11-year-olds were obese and 14.9 per cent were overweight. That means 45.6 per cent were either obese or overweight, which is the highest proportion in the country.
Hartlepool and Middlesbrough have the joint highest levels of obesity amongst Reception-aged children. Some 14.1 per cent of four-and-five-year-olds in the two towns were obese in 2023/24.
For children living in the most deprived areas, obesity prevalence was over twice as high compared with those living in the least deprived areas. The prevalence of obesity among reception children living in the most deprived areas was 12.9%, compared with 6.0% among those living in the least deprived areas.
Public Health Minister Andrew Gwynne said: “Our widening waistlines are costing the NHS and the economy billions of pounds as well as setting kids up for an unhealthy life.
“Children with obesity are five times as likely to live with the condition as adults, so it is vital that we take urgent action to protect children today by shifting our focus from treatment to prevention. That’s why we’re restricting junk food advertising on TV and online, limiting school children’s access to fast food, and banning the sale of energy drinks to under 16s.”