Half of school children are overweight in parts of Britain

Nearly half of primary school children are dangerously overweight in some parts of the country, according to official figures.

Public Health England has for the first time mapped the waistlines of 10 and 11 year olds using data from local authorities.

The figures revealed that there is one ‘severely obese’ child for every classroom in the country.

The data shows a clear link between obesity and social deprivation – with the best and worst areas in the country being just five miles apart.  

Paediatricians warn the map is evidence that successive Governments have failed to tackle childhood obesity, fueling ‘appalling life-long consequences’. 

It comes after it was revealed that an obese 12-year-old girl has been taken from her mother after doctors found her BMI is at a ‘dangerously high level’.

The data shows that 44 per cent of 11 year olds in the north London borough of Brent are either overweight or obese – the worst region in England.

The figure is almost double that of the slimmest borough (25 per cent), Richmond-upon-Thames, which sits just five miles away.  

Successive governments have failed to tackle childhood obesity, according to senior paediatricians (stock image)

But even in the affluent area in south west London, a quarter of children are still overweight or obese by the time they start secondary school.

Barking and Dagenham, Westminster, Wolverhampton and Sandwell are also bad offenders, according to the data.  

Professor Neena Modi, president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH), blasted the PHE statistics.

She told The Daily Telegraph: ‘These figures are a shocking reflection of the deep inequity within UK society today.

‘The prevalence of obesity in children is almost doubled across areas just five miles apart.’

‘These figures are a deep indictment of failure to recognise the lifelong health impact of growing up in poverty. 

‘Government must recognise evidence that could not be clearer, recognise the multi-factorial determinants of child obesity and the appalling lifelong consequences.’

Professor Modi added that a ‘child health in all policies’ approach needs to be adopted to reap rewards for ‘successive generations’.   

She told the newspaper: ‘Ignore child health and its determinants and the entire nation pays its price.’ 

The body is campaigning for a ban on advertising of junk foods before the watershed on TV, and a crack-down on new fast food outlets opening near schools.

Campaigners have repeatedly backed calls for such measures, with leading groups warning that addressing childhood obesity needs urgent action.

It is hoped tougher laws would help to crack down on the rising rates of childhood obesity, which have continued to soar in recent years.

Tam Fry, from the National Obesity Forum, told the newspaper: ‘Obesity inevitably follows deprivation. 

‘The young of affluent parents in Richmond-upon-Thames may have a weight problem, but poverty and fast food will ensure that Brent’s inner-city kids remain alarmingly obese.’  

And in October, the country’s chief nutritionist warned that parents are overfeeding their children and consigning them to a lifetime of obesity.

Dr Alison Tedstone, chief nutritionist at Public Health England, said at the time: ‘The evidence shows that children are being fed more than they require.

‘They are having a few more calories every day than they need. It builds up over time. 

‘Children are living in households with parents who have an obesity problem themselves, so there are ingrained obesity habits.

‘People tend to underestimate the amount of calories they are eating, and I suspect they underestimate how much their children are eating as well.’  

Her comments were fuelled by NHS Digital data that revealed 22.6 per cent of youngsters aged around five and in the very first year of school are overweight or obese.

It was a jump on the 22.1 per cent recorded in 2015/16, and is slowly creeping towards the record high set a decade ago (22.9 per cent).

The RCPCH warned last week that 80 per cent of overweight children will continue to be a dangerous weight in adulthood.

It said failure to tackle their bulging waistlines would, on average, cut a decade off their life expectancy and leave them spending 20 years in ill health. 

Obesity in childhood can light the fuse for a lifetime of deadly ailments, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease and several forms of cancer. 

The warning was issued on the back of a RCPCH survey, which revealed 32.4 per cent of primary school children are now overweight or obese.

This is a significant rise from the 30 per cent that was recorded in 2006/07, with boys still more likely to be fat than girls. 

The new PHE figures showed that 5 per cent of boys are classed as severely obese by the time they finish primary school, compared to 3.3 per cent of girls.

A stark divide was also noticed between ethnic groups, with children of a black Caribbean descent three times as likely as white children to be severely obese.

Children and weighed and measured twice, in reception and at the end of primary school, as part of a Government programme.

Their BMI is then compared to statistics to determine if they are overweight, with those above the 91st centile being classed as such.

Obese is considered above the 98th centile and severely obese is above the 99.6th centile. 

The new figures come after it emerged last week that a school child has been taken away from her mother after doctors found her BMI is at a ‘dangerously high level’.

The girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was taken into foster care when medical and social staff started to fear for her safety.

Her mother could lose custody of her after the local council took out legal action against her.