Inequalities among children who are overweight or obese
About 2 mins
Key Points
- In all UK countries, there is a higher percentage of children (aged 4–5 years) classified as overweight or obese in the most deprived areas compared to the least deprived areas.
- In all UK countries, the percentage of children (aged 4–5 years) classified as overweight or obese is similar for boys and girls.
Childhood obesity is linked to poor physical and mental health. Children living with obesity are more likely to experience obesity in adulthood and to have poorer health outcomes as adults. Children can experience bullying associated with their weight and obesity is also linked to school absences which impacts our access to the building blocks of health. Poor diet and low physical activity are primary risk factors for obesity.
This chart shows the percentage of children classified as overweight or obese by different characteristics in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
- In England, by region, the percentage of children (aged 4–5 years) classified as overweight or obese is highest in the North East (26.7%) and lowest in London (21.1%). By ethnicity, obesity and being overweight are highest among children from Black African and any other Black backgrounds and lowest among children from a Chinese background.
- In Scotland, there is over a 10 percentage point difference in the percentage of children (aged 4–5 years) classified as overweight or obese in the most deprived areas (29.6%) and the least deprived areas (19.5%).
- In Wales, there is a 7.9 percentage point difference in the percentage of children (aged 4–5 years) classified as overweight or obese in the most deprived areas (30.4%) and the least deprived areas (22.5%).
- In Northern Ireland, there is a 7 percentage point difference in the percentage of children (aged 4–5 years) classified as overweight or obese in the most deprived areas (28.5%) and the least deprived areas (21.5%).
- Overweight and obesity data presented is assessed using body-mass-index (BMI), which is the widely used and accepted method, and is important for tracking changes in population overweight and obesity levels over time. BMI has well-known limitations, for example it does not take account for the distribution of fat. There is evidence that BMI in children may be over or under-estimated in different ethnic groups due to physiological variations in body composition, and results should be interpreted accordingly.
- Not all breakdowns are available for each country. Where available, the latest data are presented for each country.
- Caution should be applied when comparing results between countries, as each survey has its own methods of data collections. The target age at measurement varies between countries (aged 4 to 5 years in England and Wales, around age 5 in Scotland and aged 4.5 to 5.5 in Northern Ireland) and different countries have different characteristic definitions.
- Data are based on national child measurement programmes – where height and weight measurements are collected in health reviews conducted in schools.
- Children are classified as overweight or obese if their body-mass-index is on or above the 85th centile or 95th centile, respectively, based on the British 1990 (UK90) growth reference data.
- For Scotland and Wales, some ethnicities are based on low sample sizes, with less than 100 people, so results should be treated with caution. For Scotland, data on ethnicity uses data for three years to 2024/25.
- Ethnicity groups are based on those given in the data.
Source: Department of Health and Social Care, National Child Measurement Programme, via Fingertips, England, 2024/25; Public Health Scotland, Primary 1 Body Mass Index (BMI) statistics, 2024/25; Public Health Wales, Child Measurement Programme Data, 2024/25; Public Health Agency, Children's health in Northern Ireland, 2023/24.
