Shocking interactive map reveals UK cities where 1 in 3 kids are obese before senior school

THE places successful the UK with the highest rates of obesity among 10 to 11-year-olds has been revealed - and an country successful the West Midlands is apical of the list.

Childhood obesity has been a large nationalist health contented successful the UK implicit the past fewer years and tin person superior consequences for a child's wellness and well-being.

It tin pb to a scope of wellness conditions, including heart disease, stroke, precocious humor pressure, diabetes, immoderate cancers, and tin besides interaction mental health and trim beingness expectancy.

New information published by NHS England shows the level of obesity among twelvemonth 6-age schoolchildren successful each section authorization country successful England successful 2023/24.

The findings, from the Government’s National Child Measurement Programme successful mainstream state-maintained schools, were based connected children aged 10 to 11 and the postcode of their location address.

According to the list, Sandwell successful the West Midlands ranked the highest successful the state for obese twelvemonth 6-age schoolchildren with 31 per cent. 

Other adjacent areas ranked highly, including Wolverhampton with 30.2 per cent and Walsall with 27.6 per cent.

Knowsley successful the North East of England ranked 2nd highest with 30.2 per cent.

The worst areas successful London were Barking & Dagenham (29.3 per cent), Newham (28.8 per cent), and Southwark (27.9 per cent).

And 2 areas successful the East Midlands besides ranked precocious - Mansfield (28.1 per cent) and Nottingham (28 per cent).

But the information comes aft figures showed obesity among children leaving superior schoolhouse successful England has fallen for the 3rd twelvemonth successful a row.

NHS information showed 22.1 per cent of children successful twelvemonth 6 (aged 10 to 11) were obese successful 2023/24, down from 22.7 per cent successful 2022/23.

But the fig is inactive higher than the years earlier the pandemic. A full of 25.5 per cent of children were obese successful 2020/21 – the archetypal twelvemonth of COVID-19 – which was up sharply from 21 per cent successful 2019/20.

Before the pandemic, obesity prevalence among twelvemonth 6 children had been connected a wide upwards inclination for much than a decade, since an archetypal estimation of 17.5 per cent successful 2006/07.

Professor Simon Kenny, NHS England’s nationalist objective manager for children and young people, said: “Obesity can person a large interaction connected a child’s beingness – it affects each organ successful the assemblage and is efficaciously a ticking wellness timebomb for the future by expanding a child’s hazard of benignant 2 diabetes, cancer, intelligence wellness issues and galore different illnesses.

“The NHS is committed to helping young radical and families affected by utmost value issues with tailored packages of physical, intelligence and societal support, including our 30 specializer weight-loss clinics dispersed crossed the state to guarantee that each kid tin entree enactment if they request it.

“But the NHS cannot lick this unsocial and continued enactment from industry, section and nationalist government, and wider nine unneurotic with the NHS is indispensable to assistance make a steadfast nation.”

Levels of obesity in reception-age children surviving successful the astir deprived areas (12.9 per cent) were much than treble those successful the slightest deprived areas (6 per cent).

Obesity among twelvemonth 6 children was 29.2 per cent successful the astir deprived areas, compared with 13 per cent successful the slightest deprived areas.

The Local Government Association (LGA) said currency raised from the brushed drinks sweetener tax should beryllium targeted astatine areas with higher levels of deprivation, child obesity and bony decay.

It said the taxation has raised £1.9 cardinal since it was introduced successful 2018, “yet councils are progressively acrophobic astir wherever the money is being spent”.

It besides wants the taxation extended to see milk-based drinks specified arsenic milkshakes, and high-sugar coffees arsenic good arsenic high-sugar items similar cakes, biscuits and chocolate.

David Fothergill, president of the LGA’s assemblage wellbeing board, said: “The brushed drinks manufacture levy was a important measurement successful the conflict against child obesity.

“We are urging the Government to assistance councils power implicit the levy’s revenues and allocate funds to code the astir pressing kid wellness inequalities.

“It would besides marque much consciousness to target organisation of the levy to those areas that request it the most.

“With heavy connections to section wellness services, schools and communities, councils are uniquely placed to nonstop resources wherever they are needed most, creating healthier, much resilient environments for our children.”

Dr Helen Stewart, serviceman for wellness betterment astatine the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, added: “It’s intolerable to disregard that poorer children are implicit doubly arsenic apt to beryllium obese than their richer peers.

“This is simply a long-standing wellness inequality that successive governments person failed to tackle.

“It is wide to paediatricians that advancement connected childhood obesity cannot beryllium achieved without besides addressing our out-of-control rates of puerility poorness and deprivation.

“Today we are calling connected our Government to people the caller kid poorness strategy, with a wide absorption connected relation of health, to grow free schoolhouse meals and to yet perpetrate to scrapping the two-child bounds to payment payments – which we cognize is keeping implicit a cardinal children successful poorness and entrenching wellness inequalities.”