One in five Swindon children obese by end of primary school

NHS Digital figures show that 20 per cent of Year 6 pupils in Swindon in 2017-18 were obese, of which 4.4 per cent were severely obese.

Additionally, 14 per cent of Year 6 children were overweight.

That means more than a third of Swindon’s youngsters are unhealthily overweight when they finish primary school.

Across England, 4.2 per cent of 10 and 11-year-olds are severely obese, a record high, but still slightly lower than the Swindon figure.

Councillor Mary Martin is Swindon Borough Council’s cabinet member for children and schools achievement. She said: “This council takes public health very seriously indeed. We are committed to helping parents ensure their children live healthy lifestyles.

"Our health and wellbeing strategy sets out our ambitions for increasing levels of physical activity and reducing obesity rates in people of all ages, and with great emphasis placed on children.

“Our Healthy Schools Award encourages schools to promote healthy lifestyles for their pupils. We also offer the Alive ‘n’ Kicking family weight management programme, which is an important, council-led initiative.

“We are currently piloting a Healthy Early Years Award, which focusses on children up to the age of five, while the council will soon relaunch its obesity strategy to raise awareness of the dangers of excess weight.

“The number of families getting involved in Beat the Street has helped to raise awareness of the benefits of living a healthy lifestyle.

"We have a great network of parks, footpaths and open spaces in Swindon that we can all take advantage of. We also have a huge number of clubs, many run by volunteers for sport and activities. I’d love to see more people joining in, socialising and enjoying themselves while keeping healthy.

“We recognise that, as a local authority, we have an important role to play in reducing childhood obesity. But it is important to stress that we cannot do it alone and we need parents, schools, workplaces and other public sector bodies to come together to find and implement solutions.”

In 2017-18, just 10 per cent of Swindon’s reception children were obese.

Caroline Cerny, of the Obesity Health Alliance, a coalition of leading health charities, medical royal colleges and campaign groups, said: “The ever increasing number of children living with obesity is a clear reflection of the unhealthy wider environment that pushes us towards sugary and fatty food and drinks.

“We need to start with reducing the number of junk food adverts children see before a 9pm watershed, restrictions on junk food promotions in supermarkets and the food industry stepping up efforts to reduce sugar and fat from everyday foods.”