Obesity: Ilford South
(asked on 11th February 2025) - View Source
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential correlation between the number of fast food outlets opening and recent trends in the level of obesity in Ilford South constituency.
The Department has not made an assessment of the potential correlation between the number of fast food outlets opening and recent trends in the level of obesity in the Ilford South constituency. However, children living in the most deprived areas see five times more fast food outlets on their high streets and are also over twice as likely to be living with obesity compared with the least deprived areas
The food environment can influence dietary choices. Meals eaten outside of the home tend to be associated with higher calories, and portion sizes tend to be bigger. In addition, people who eat more food from the out of home sector tend to have a poorer quality diet and a higher weight for height. The food environment is an important modifiable determinant of dietary behaviour and obesity, and the revised National Planning Policy Framework for local government published last December gives stronger, clearer powers to block new fast food outlets near schools and where young people congregate
The Department publishes breakdowns of child and adult obesity prevalence and the number of fast food outlets per 100,000 population at a local authority level. Information is not available for Ilford South, but it is available for the London Borough of Redbridge, which includes Ilford South. In 2024, Redbridge had 127 fast food outlets per 100,000 population, which is an increase from 69.9 per 100,000 in 2017, as per the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities’ (OHID) 2025 Public Health Profiles. The following table shows the obesity prevalence in the London Borough of Redbridge, from the National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP) academic year 2006/07 to 2023/24:
NCMP academic year | Obesity prevalence for children in Reception, from age four to five years old | Obesity prevalence for children in Year 6, from age 10 to 11 years old |
2006/07 | 10.6% | 20.4% |
2007/08 | 11.3% | 20.9% |
2008/09 | 11.3% | 21.3% |
2009/10 | 11.8% | 21.3% |
2010/11 | 12.0% | 23.5% |
2011/12 | 11.4% | 23.6% |
2012/13 | 10.1% | 21.5% |
2013/14 | 10.4% | 22.9% |
2014/15 | 10.8% | 23.3% |
2015/16 | 9.8% | 23.5% |
2016/17 | 11.6% | 23.7% |
2017/18 | 11.4% | 25.0% |
2018/19 | 9.9% | 24.1% |
2019/20 | 11.2% | 25.0% |
2020/21 | No data | No data |
2021/22 | 11.5% | 27.9% |
2022/23 | 9.9% | 26.7% |
2023/24 | 8.9% | 24.6% |
Source: National Child Measurement Programme.
In addition, the following table shows adult, those aged 18 years old and over, obesity prevalence in the London Borough of Redbridge, from 2015/16 to 2022/23:
Year | Adult obesity prevalence |
2015/16 | 18.1% |
2016/17 | 20.4% |
2017/18 | 20.9% |
2018/19 | 23.9% |
2019/20 | 18.3% |
2020/21 | 22.6% |
2021/22 | 24.1% |
2022/23 | 25.3% |
Source: Active Lives adult survey, OHID analysis of data from Sport England.