Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the levels of (1) childhood obesity, and (2) childhood dental problems; and what assessment they have made of the role of milk in combating those health issues.

The National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP) collects data on the weight status of children aged four to five years old, in Reception, and 10 to 11 years old, in Year 6. Findings from the 2023 to 2024 NCMP annual report shows that the prevalence of obesity in children in Reception is not showing signs of decreasing, and remains in line with the stable pre-pandemic level. For Year 6 children, although the prevalence has decreased, it remains higher than pre-pandemic levels and is in line with the increasing pre-pandemic trend. Obesity prevalence also varies across ethnic groups, where a child lives continues to influence their weight status and health, and there remain large and persistent inequalities between the most and least deprived areas of England.

Data from the National Dental Epidemiology Programme oral health survey of five-year-old schoolchildren in England in 2024 showed that 22.4% of five-year-old children surveyed had experienced tooth decay. The most common reason children aged five to nine years old are admitted to hospital is for tooth decay.

Plain milk and water are the safest drinks for teeth. We have published the evidence base in support of this in Delivering Better Oral Health: an evidence-based toolkit for prevention, which states that only plain milk or water should be provided between meals for young children. Young children should not be given drinks sweetened with sugar or sweeteners.

In 2023, the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN), published its report Feeding young children aged 1 to 5 years, a comprehensive assessment of the scientific basis of recommendations for feeding young children aged up to five years old. The report found no evidence that milk consumption is related to tooth decay and some evidence that there is no link between milk consumption and body fatness. The SACN recommended that plain milk or water, in addition to breast milk, should constitute the majority of drinks given to children aged one to five years old, and that pasteurised whole and semi-skimmed cows’ milk can be given as a main drink from one years old. These recommendations have been accepted by Government.