Trends in children who are overweight or obese
About 2 mins
Key Points
- Across the UK, more than 1 in 5 children aged 4 to 5 are overweight or living with obesity.
- The percentage of children who are overweight or living with obesity has remained relatively constant across the UK over the past decade. However, all four countries have seen a slight increase since 2022/23.
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. This can indirectly impact health outcomes and access to the building blocks of health. Poor diet and low physical activity are primary risk factors for obesity.
This chart shows trends in the percentage of children (aged 4 to 5 years) classified as overweight or obese in the UK between 2001/02 and 2024/25.
- In 2024/25, 23.5% of 4 to 5-year-olds in England were classified as overweight or obese, compared to 24.4% in Scotland and 27.3% in Wales. The most recent data for Northern Ireland, from 2023/24, show that 25.3% of children in this age group were classified as overweight or obese.
- In England and Scotland, there was an increase in the percentage of children classified as overweight or obese in 2020/21. However, data collection during this period was significantly disrupted by the pandemic due to school closures. This means that the data from that year may not accurately reflect the true prevalence in the population.
While overall rates have remained stable over the past two decades, this masks inequalities. In this period, in England, the gap between the percentage of children (aged 4 to 5 years) classified as overweight or obese among the most deprived and least deprived areas has widened, driven by an increase in the most deprived areas.
- 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.
- Caution should be applied when comparing results between countries, as each survey has its methods of data collections and 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).
- 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.
- Data collection was significantly impacted during the pandemic due to the closure of schools.
Source: Office for Health Improvement & Disparities, 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.
