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Overview
Obesity is one of the biggest public health issues facing England. The National Audit Office clearly highlighted the damaging impact obesity has on health and life expectancy as well as the huge financial costs for the NHS and the community as a whole.
The prevalence of obesity among children, aged 2 to 10, rose, between 1995 and 2005 from 9.6% to 16.6% in boys and 10.3% to 16.7% in girls. In children aged 2-15, the increase in obesity prevalence rose over same time period, from 10.9% to 18.0% in boys and 12.0-18.1% in girls. Analysing data from 2002-2004, obesity prevalence was highest in children aged 11-12 years (IC Report, 2006).
The Government has responded to this issue by developing a PSA target to “ halt the year on year rise in obesity among children aged under 11 by 2010 in the context of a broader strategy to tackle obesity in the population as a whole ”.
PCTs now need to measure:
- All primary school children in the Reception Year (ages 4-5 years).
- All primary school children in Year 6 (ages 10-11 years).
This page aims to provide resources and information to those working on monitoring childhood obesity throughout the South East, and to share knowledge and good practice.
For resources on Obesity and overweight in general, please visit our Obesity & Overweight topic page.
The new National Obesity Observatory will provide a single point of contact for wide-ranging authoritative information on data, evidence and practice related to obesity, overweight, underweight and their determinants. An interim website is available at www.noo.org.uk |
