Record number of obese children in UK

Nearly a third of British 10 to 11-year-olds are now overweight or obese, the highest on record.

An 11 year old girl using a set of weighing scales

Nearly a third of British 10 to 11-year-olds are now overweight or obese, the highest on record. (AAP)

The percentage of overweight and obese 10 to 11-year-olds in the United Kingdom is the highest on record, official figures show.

Data from the National Child Measurement Programme for England shows obesity has risen in the last year, even for the youngest children being measured, aged four.

The data, from NHS Digital, shows that more than one in three children aged 10 to 11 were overweight or obese in 2015/16.

This is the highest on record and is up on 33.2 per cent the previous year and 31.6 per cent in 2006/07.

More than one in five children (22.1 per cent) were either overweight or obese in reception year (aged four to five), up on 21.9 per cent the previous year but under the 22.9 per cent in 2006/07.

When it comes to obesity alone, 9.3 per cent of children in the age bracket were obese in 2015/16, up from 9.1 per cent the year before.

One in five (19.8 per cent) of those in year six were obese, up from 19.1 per cent the year before.

The National Child Measurement Programme measures the height and weight of more than a million children in England every year and is considered to be a robust analysis of children's weight.

The Government has come under intense pressure over its childhood obesity plan, which campaigners say was heavily watered down in the months before publication.

Earlier this week, media claimed that curbs on junk food advertising and restrictions on unhealthy product placement in supermarkets were among measures cut from a draft of strategy before it was released in August.


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Source: AAP


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