Obesity levels in Reception pupils are at record high

CITY'S NUMBERS ARE WORST IN THE MIDLANDS

- JAMES CARTLEDGE News Reporter

MORE than one in seven children starting school in a Midland city were obese, sobering new data has revealed.

Wolverhampton was the worst-performing part of the Midlands last year with an obesity rate in its Reception classes pupils aged just four and five of 14.4 per cent.

It was followed by Walsall, with a rate of 13.8 per cent, and Sandwell, at 13.3 per cent

The rate in Birmingham was 11.6 per cent, while in contrast it was 8.5 per cent in leafy Solihull.

Nationally, one in ten children in the first year of primary school in England was obese in 2024/25, the highest figure on record outside the pandemic.