North East has highest proportion of children living with obesity
New NHS England figures have been released
We are hearing how the North East has the highest proportion of children living with obesity.
New NHS England figures show it is prevalent in reception-aged kids and those in Year 6.
Jo Bielby, an advanced public health practitioner in healthy weight at Middlesbrough Council and MUST service manager in South Tees, said: "What we are seeing is that where a child lives continues to influence their weight status and health. There remains large and persist inequalities between the most and least deprived areas in England, with the North East being in a high level of deprivation.
"The cost of living is not just affecting those on low income but everyone so people may turn to purchasing cheaper foods which often have little nutritional value, which is higher in calories, with less access to a range of healthy and affordable foods resulting in diet-related inequalities. Also, the North East has some of the lowest levels of people who are physically active and the rate of fast food outlets are also higher.
"Tackling obesity continues to be a public health challenge. To address obesity requires a whole system approach and the causes exist within our daily environment which makes it really difficult for us to make healthier lifestyle choices. We have obesity integrated into our health and wellbeing plans and we also have programmes of work in place to address obesity and also to support children and families.
"There is a increased risk in a child living with obesity having elevated blood pressure and getting type 2 diabetes. Many children face bullying and weight stigma relating to their weight, which can result in a child experience low self esteem, anxiety and depression. We also know that the emotional impact results in them being absent from school and it also impacts their own school performance and attainment."
Dr. Natalie Connor, co-chair of the North East Obesity Forum, said: "25.8 percent of Year 6 are living with obesity in the North East, and I think the lowest is about 20 percent in the South East and that's still horrifying to me. There has been a slight decline so we're back to pre-pandemic levels but we're still faced with a huge number of children living with obesity.
"We've had a number of years of funding cuts to our local authority purses. As a nation, we have higher levels of inactivity, we live in an obesigenic envionrment that makes it extremely difficult to make healthy food choices and we're faced with relentless advertising, especially our children.
"The estimation of the annual cost in this country is something like £33 billion directly and indirectly. It's much more than alcohol, smoking, drug misuse and other public health issues which are all really, really important issues but we need to tackle the food industry. Nothing's going to change without Government intervention.
"If you go back to 1992 and all the way through to 2022, there's been 14 strategies put in place with 689 different policies in an attempt to tackle obesity. Most of these policies fail because they require voluntary actions as opposed to mandatory and they don't understand food systems and how they operate."
Information on programmes to help
- The Holiday Activities and Food Programme (Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland). To book onto the upcoming programme at Christmas, visit the Middlesbrough Council website.
- HENRY programmes in Middlesbrough. For information, please contact Gill Simister by telephone: 0300 303 1603 or email: hdft.mbrohenry@nhs.net
- Henry programmes in Redcar and Cleveland - Healthy Families: Growing Up programme (5-12yrs) please contact Sarah Winspear by telephone: (01287) 555200 or 07870158432 or by email: sarah.winspear@redcar-cleveland.gov.uk
NHS England figures
Geography:
The proportion of reception-aged children living with obesity in 2022/23 was highest in the North East (11.3%). It was lowest in the South East (8.0%), East of England (8.1%) and South West (8.2%).
For year 6, the proportion of children living with obesity was highest in the North East (25.8%), the West Midlands (25.2%) and London (24.8%). It was lowest for year 6 children in the South West (19.4%) and the South East (19.4%).
The prevalence of obesity varied by local authority10. For reception, this ranged from 4.9% in Wokingham to 14.1% in Knowsley. In year 6, the range was from 12.0% in Richmond upon Thames to 31.7% in Barking and Dagenham.
The prevalence of obesity was highest in urban areas for both age groups - 9.4% in reception and 23.6% in year 6.
Deprivation:
Levels of obesity in reception-aged children living in the most deprived8 areas (12.4%) were more than double those in the least deprived areas (5.8%). The prevalence of severe obesity was more than three times higher in the most deprived areas (3.8%) compared with those living in the least deprived areas (1.2%).
Similarly, the prevalence of obesity among year 6 children was 30.2% in the most deprived areas, compared with 13.1% in the least deprived areas. The prevalence of severe obesity was more than four times higher among year 6 children in the most deprived areas (9.2%) compared with those living in the least deprived areas (2.1%).
Read the full report here.