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 impact of childhood obesity on inequalities in health outcomes between (a) deprived communities and (b) less deprived communities.

The National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP) collects data on children aged four to five years old, who would be in reception, and 10 to 11 years old, who would be in year 6. It provides detailed data on childhood obesity by age, sex, deprivation, and ethnicity, as well as geographic analyses.

NCMP data for 2022/23 shows that, for children living in the most deprived areas, obesity prevalence was twice as high compared with those living in the least deprived areas in both reception and year 6.

For children in reception, the data for 2022/23 shows a gap of 6.6% for obesity prevalence between the most and least deprived areas. This is the smallest disparity gap seen since 2014/15, and has been driven by a greater drop in obesity prevalence in the most deprived areas, which is at its lowest level since 2015/16. For children in year 6, the gap in obesity prevalence between the most and least deprived areas in 2022/23 has reduced to 17.1%, but is still much larger than that seen in pre-pandemic years.

A growing number of children living with obesity are developing health conditions, including high blood pressure, high cholesterol, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, bone and joint problems, tooth decay, and type 2 diabetes.

Further health outcomes associated with obesity occur in adulthood. Approximately 80% of adolescents living with obesity will continue to live with excess weight as adults, so it is important to create an environment which helps children maintain a healthy weight.

Where a child lives therefore influences their weight status and health outcomes. There are large and persistent disparities between the most and least deprived communities of England.