News alert / Fall in child obesity rates
The prevalence of primary school children living with obesity continued to fall in 2022/23, after reaching the highest recorded levels during the Covid-19 pandemic, new NHS England figures show. According to the National child measurement programme, England, 2022/23 report, obesity prevalence among four- and five-year-olds fell to 9.2% in 2022/23 from 10.1% in 2021/22, compared with the highest recorded figure in 2020/21 of 14.4%. The decrease signals a return to pre-pandemic levels for this age group and is one of the lowest levels since 2006/07. However, obesity among children aged 10 to 11 remains above pre-pandemic levels – the figure dropped to 22.7% in 2022/23, down from 23.4% in 2021/22 and 25.5% in 2020/21, but higher than the 2019/20 pre-pandemic level of 21%.
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