Proportion of children aged 10 to 11 years classified as overweight or living with obesity. For population monitoring purposes, a child’s body mass index (BMI) is classed as overweight or obese where it is on or above the 85th centile or 95th centile, respectively, based on the British 1990 (UK90) growth reference data. The population monitoring cut offs for overweight and obesity are lower than the clinical cut offs (91st and 98th centiles for overweight and obesity) used to assess individual children; this is to capture children in the population in the clinical overweight or obesity BMI categories and those who are at high risk of moving into the clinical overweight or clinical obesity categories. This helps ensure that adequate services are planned and delivered for the whole population.

Rationale There is concern about the rise of childhood obesity and the implications of obesity persisting into adulthood. The risk of obesity in adulthood and risk of future obesity-related ill health are greater as children get older. Studies tracking child obesity into adulthood have found that the probability of children who are overweight or living with obesity becoming overweight or obese adults increases with age[1,2,3]. The health consequences of childhood obesity include: increased blood lipids, glucose intolerance, Type 2 diabetes, hypertension, increases in liver enzymes associated with fatty liver, exacerbation of conditions such as asthma and psychological problems such as social isolation, low self-esteem, teasing and bullying.

It is important to look at the prevalence of weight status across all weight/BMI categories to understand the whole picture and the movement of the population between categories over time.

The National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence have produced guidelines to tackle obesity in adults and children - http://guidance.nice.org.uk/CG43.

1 Guo SS, Chumlea WC. Tracking of body mass index in children in relation to overweight in adulthood. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 1999;70(suppl): 145S-8S.

2 Serdula MK, Ivery D, Coates RJ, Freedman DS, Williamson DF, Byers T. Do obese children become obese adults? A review of the literature. Preventative Medicine 1993;22:167-77.

3 Starc G, Strel J. Tracking excess weight and obesity from childhood to young adulthood: a 12-year prospective cohort study in Slovenia. Public Health Nutrition 2011;14:49-55.

Definition of numerator Number of children in year 6 (aged 10 to 11 years) with a valid height and weight measured by the NCMP with a BMI classified as overweight or living with obesity, including severe obesity (BMI on or above the 85th centile of the UK90 growth reference).

Definition of denominator The number of children in year 6 (aged 10 to 11 years) with a valid height and weight measured by the NCMP.

Caveats Data for local authorities may not match that published by NHS England which are based on the local authority of the school attended by the child or based on the local authority that submitted the data. There is a strong correlation between deprivation and child obesity prevalence and users of these data may wish to examine the pattern in their local area. Users may wish to produce thematic maps and charts showing local child obesity prevalence. When presenting data in charts or maps it is important, where possible, to consider the confidence intervals (CIs) around the figures. This analysis supersedes previously published data for small area geographies and historically published data should not be compared to the latest publication. Estimated data published in this fingertips tool is not comparable with previously published data due to changes in methods over the different years of production. These methods changes include; moving from estimated numbers at ward level to actual numbers; revision of geographical boundaries (including ward boundary changes and conversion from 2001 MSOA boundaries to 2011 boundaries); disclosure control methodology changes. The most recently published data applies the same methods across all years of data. There is the potential for error in the collection, collation and interpretation of the data (bias may be introduced due to poor response rates and selective opt out of children with a high BMI for age/sex which it is not possible to control for). There is not a good measure of response bias and the degree of selective opt out, but participation rates (the proportion of eligible school children who were measured) may provide a reasonable proxy; the higher the participation rate, the less chance there is for selective opt out, though this is not a perfect method of assessment. Participation rates for each local authority are available in the https://fingertips.phe.org.uk/profile/national-child-measurement-programme/data#page/4/gid/8000022/ of this profile.

Period life expectancy for single-year periods, at birth and other age groups at regional and local authority levels in selected constituent countries.

These figures show the median gross annual pay for full-time workers on a resident basis for the area, who are on adults rates of pay, and whose pay was not affected by absence. Figures are for GB pounds per annum. Full-time workers are defined as those who work more than 30 paid hours per week or those in teaching professions working 25 paid hours or more per week. Figures for earnings come from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) which is based on a 1 per cent sample of employees, information on whose earnings and hours is obtained from employers. The survey does not cover people who are self-employed, nor does it cover employees not paid during the reference period. Information relates to a pay period in April. The earnings information collected relates to gross pay before tax, national insurance or other deductions, and excludes payments in kind (i.e. payment made in the form of goods and services rather than cash). It is restricted to earnings relating to the survey pay period and so excludes payments of arrears from another period made during the survey period; any payments due as a result of a pay settlement but not yet paid at the time of the survey will also be excluded. Estimates for 2011 and subsequent years use a weighting scheme based on occupations which have been coded according to Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) 2010 that replaced SOC 2000. Therefore care should be taken when making comparisons with earlier years. Where the estimate is assessed with a coefficient of variation (CV) of over 20 per cent, these figures have been suppressed, as they are considered by the ONS as unreliable.Data is Powered by LG Inform Plus and automatically checked for new data on the 3rd of each month.

This is the percentage of year 6 children who are living with obesity and includes children who are living with severe obesity.

The BMI classification of each child is derived by calculating the child's BMI centile and assigning the BMI classification. Obese is defined as a BMI centile greater than or equal to the 95th centile. Severely obese is defined as a BMI centile greater than or equal to 99.6 (This BMI classification is a subset of the "Obese" classification).

The results are derived from the postcode of the school. Measurement of children's heights and weights, without shoes and coats and in normal, light, indoor clothing, was overseen by healthcare professionals and undertaken in school by trained staff. Measurements could be taken at any time during the academic year. Some children could be over one year older than others in the same school year at the point of measurement. This does not impact upon a child's BMI classification since BMI centile results are adjusted for age.

The National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP) collects height and weight measurements of children in reception (aged 4-5 years) and year 6 (aged 10-11 years) primarily in mainstream state-maintained schools in England. Local authorities are mandated to collect data from mainstream state-maintained schools but collection of data from special schools (schools for pupils with special educational needs and pupil referral units) and independent schools is encouraged.

Data is Powered by LG Inform Plus and automatically checked for new data on the 3rd of each month.

This is the number of permanent exclusions at state-funded primary schools expressed as a percentage of the number (headcount) of pupils (including sole or dual main registrations and boarding pupils). A permanent exclusion refers to a pupil who is excluded and their name removed from the school register. Such a pupil would then be educated at another school or via some other form of provision. The head teacher of a school can exclude a pupil on disciplinary grounds only. Good discipline in schools is essential to ensure that all pupils can benefit from the opportunities provided by education. The decision to exclude a pupil must be lawful, reasonable, and fair. In addition, schools have a statutory duty not to discriminate against pupils on the basis of protected characteristics, such as disability or race. Schools and LAs must arrange alternative provision from the sixth day of the exclusion of pupils of compulsory school age. 'State-funded primary schools' refers to those schools maintained by the local authority, including middle schools deemed as primary and academies. Pupil and exclusion numbers of 1 to 4 are suppressed to protect pupil confidentiality and numbers at national and regional levels are rounded to the nearest 10. Local authority totals across school types are also rounded to the nearest 10 to prevent disclosure of any suppressed values. Where any number is shown as 0, the original figure was also 0.

Data is Powered by LG Inform Plus and automatically checked for new data on the 3rd of each month.