Alarm over obesity figures

ONE in 10 children in the first year of primary school in England is obese - the highest figure on record outside the pandemic, figures show.

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Data from the National Child Measurement Programme found 10.5% of children in Reception and more than a fifth in Year 6 (the last year of primary school) were obese in 2024/25, with boys more likely to be overweight than girls.

Excluding the peak during the first year of the Covid pandemic, this is the highest obesity prevalence seen in Reception year since records began in 2006/07, and is higher than the 9.6% in 2023/24.

Some 13% of children in Reception, when youngsters are aged four and five, are also overweight, meaning almost one in four of all children in this age group are overweight or obese.