Health chiefs concerned about child obesity levels in Gloucestershire
More than 25,000 children in the county are currently obese
Civic leaders have raised the alarm over the level of childhood obesity with the latest estimates suggesting there are more than 25,000 obese children in Gloucestershire.
Public health chiefs also say they are concerned with the latest data as it shows the highest increase in obesity levels among primary school children.
They believe the unprecedented rise is linked to the Covid-19 pandemic. For reception year, student obesity rates increased by 4.7 percentage points in England, and by 4.4 percentage points in Gloucestershire.
In England, the rate of severe obesity increased by 2.3 percentage points, and by 1.9 percentage points in Gloucestershire.
This equates to an increase from 592 to 884 reception age children in Gloucestershire with obesity from 2018/19 to 2020/21. Of the 884 children, around 260 have severe obesity.
For year six students, obesity rates increased by an estimated 5.3 percentage points in England, and an estimated 2.9 percentage points in Gloucestershire.
In England, the rate of severe obesity increased by an estimated 1.9 percentage points, and by an estimated 1.0 percentage point in Gloucestershire.
These are the largest increases the public health team have seen since the National Child Measurement Programme began in 2006/07.
They say that by extrapolating reception and year six data, a very conservative estimate of the total burden of obesity among children in Gloucestershire is upwards of 25,000 children.
Councillor Lisa Spivey (LD, South Cerney) said it was a sad situation and found the statistics shocking.
“From my perspective, it’s pretty harsh but I listen to the likes of Jack Monroe who is a fantastic advocate for eating well on a very limited budget,” she told the joint meeting with the health overview scrutiny committee, adult social care and communities scrutiny committee on March 8.
“This is about a choice and these are parents who are not feeding their children correctly. I would hope the vast majority of 10 and 11-year-olds are still being fed by their parents.
“We really need to be targeting the parents and get that education in there now. These are the people that are feeding the children essentially the wrong things.”
Siobhan Farmer, Deputy Director of Public Health at Gloucestershire County Council, said it was a societal issue and explained the steps being taken to address the problem.
She said: “We have to recognise that choices are easier for some parts of our community than others.
“Those families who have two parents bringing in an income and have extra childcare may find it easier than somebody who is working three jobs and isn’t always able to prepare a meal from scratch.
“We need to recognise that some families need extra targeted support from the programme we’ve got.”
She said the council has recently agreed to commission revamped children centres that would work with families early on to help make sure they make the right choices regarding how to feed their children.