Obesity among England's four and five-year-olds hits a record high outside the pandemic as the 'deprivation gap' widens
A healthcare professional measures a child's waist in a clinical setting, as Food Foundation director Anna Taylor warned that delays to anti-obesity policies carry significant community costs for deprived communities.Children in the most deprived areas of England are twice as likely to be obese as those in the wealthiest, with nearly a third of Year 6 pupils in poorer communities affected.
New government data from the National Child Measurement Programme shows 10.7 per cent of reception-year children — four and five-year-olds — are now obese, the highest figure ever recorded outside the Covid peak of 2020. One in four Year 6 pupils is obese, up from 22.2 per cent in 2024, with the post-pandemic decline having stalled and reversed.
Obesity rates in England's most deprived areas stand at 30.3 per cent among Year 6 pupils, nearly twice the 13.9 per cent recorded in the wealthiest areas — a gap of well over twofold.
Boys are bearing the worst of it: 6.9 per cent of Year 6 boys are severely obese, compared with 4.8 per cent of girls.
Food Foundation chief Anna Taylor warned the government has sat on its promised obesity consultation for 'nearly 500 days' while children's health deteriorates.
