Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Thursday, Sep 18, 2025

Childhood obesity in England soars during pandemic

Childhood obesity in England soars during pandemic

Experts alarmed as NHS data shows one in four children in England aged 10 and 11 are obese

Thousands of children are facing “serious” and even “devastating” consequences as a result of weight gain during the pandemic, experts warn, as “alarming” figures reveal one in four 10- and 11-year-olds in England are obese.

Health leaders are calling for a “relentless drive” to boost child health as official NHS data lays bare for the first time how child obesity levels have soared during lockdowns.

The National Childhood Measurement Programme, which measures obesity prevalence among school-age pupils in reception class and year 6, found obesity levels rocketed in both year groups by more than 4 percentage points between 2019-20 and 2020-21.

Officials said the “significant” single-year increase in prevalence was the highest rise since the programme began 15 years ago.

The figures show that almost one in seven children are already obese when they begin primary school in England. Among reception-aged children, those aged four and five, the rates of obesity rose from 9.9% in 2019-20 to 14.4% in 2020-21.

By the time they are aged 10 or 11, more than a quarter are obese, according to NHS Digital. In just 12 months, the rate is up from 21% in 2019-20 to 25.5% in 2020-21.


Dr Max Davie, officer for health improvement at the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, said lockdowns “may have been a key factor” in the rise in obesity rates. “This sharp increase in obesity levels across childhood is alarming,” he said.

Caroline Cerny, from the Obesity Health Alliance, said the figures highlighted “the need for a relentless drive on improving children’s health”.

“There are several aspects of the pandemic that are likely to have contributed to this increase in child obesity levels,” she said. “But it is very clear from data showing increases in sales of confectionery, biscuits and fast food that junk food companies used the opportunity to keep their unhealthy products centre stage in children’s minds. We need to break the junk food cycle to improve children’s health.”

Boys had a higher prevalence of obesity than girls for both age groups, according to the figures. The proportion of children who were a healthy weight dropped between 2019-20 and 2020-21.

Overall, the proportion either overweight or obese was 27.7% in reception and 40.9% in year 6. It means four in 10 children leaving primary school are at increased risk of serious health conditions.

Nikki Joule, the policy manager at Diabetes UK, warned of potentially devastating consequences as a result of weight gain during the pandemic.

“This new data, which shows that two-fifths of children aged 10-11 in England are living with overweight and obesity is hugely concerning, and it underlines why urgent action is needed to improve children’s health,” she said. “Living with obesity significantly increases your risk of type 2 diabetes, a condition which is known to have more severe and acute consequences in children and young people.”

Children living in poorer areas are twice as likely to be obese than those living in wealthier neighbourhoods, the figures also revealed.

In reception-aged children, 20.3% in the most deprived areas are obese compared with 7.8% in the least deprived. In year 6 pupils, the proportion who are obese ranged from 33.8% among those living in the most deprived areas to 14.3% in the least deprived.

“We need an intense focus on closing the gap between the most and least deprived to ensure every single child has an equal chance to grow up healthy,” Cerny said.

The NHS has launched a pilot scheme in which 15 new specialist clinics will care for severely obese children and their families.

“Left unchecked, obesity can have other very serious consequences, ranging from diabetes to cancer,” said Amanda Pritchard, NHS England’s chief executive. The scheme “aims to prevent children and young people enduring a lifetime of ill-health”.

Tam Fry, the chairman of the National Obesity Forum, said the figures would “likely end any hope” that the government would succeed in its mission to halve childhood obesity in England by 2030.

“The figures are staggering and even worse than the forum feared,” he said. “For two years we have had reports of children increasingly being kept at home because of Covid restrictions, endlessly snacking on junk food on top of the amount they regularly eat at meal times, and prevented from being able to play with friends to burn off excess calories.”

Fry said he feared the 15 child obesity clinics were “very sadly likely to be insufficient” in scale to “cope with the numbers who now will need help”.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Kuwait opens bidding for construction of three cities to ease housing crunch.
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Qatari prime minister says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Big Oil Slashes Jobs and Investments Amid Prolonged Low Crude Prices
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Did the Houthis disrupt the internet in the Middle East? Submarine cables cut in the Red Sea
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Iran Faces Escalating Water Crisis as Protests Spread
More Than Half a Million Evacuated as Typhoon Kajiki Heads for Vietnam
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Cristiano Ronaldo Makes Surprise Stop at New Hong Kong Museum
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
High-Stakes Trump-Putin Summit on Ukraine Underway in Alaska
Iranian Protection Offers Chinese Vehicle Shipments a Cost Advantage over Japanese and Korean Makers
Saudi Arabia accelerates renewables to curb domestic oil use
Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodríguez announce engagement
Asia-Pacific dominates world’s busiest flight routes, with South Korea’s Jeju–Seoul corridor leading global rankings
Private Welsh island with 19th-century fort listed for sale at over £3 million
Sam Altman challenges Elon Musk with plans for Neuralink rival
Australia to Recognize the State of Palestine at UN Assembly
The Collapse of the Programmer Dream: AI Experts Now the Real High-Earners
Armenia and Azerbaijan to Sign US-Brokered Framework Agreement for Nakhchivan Corridor
British Labour Government Utilizes Counter-Terrorism Tools for Social Media Monitoring Against Legitimate Critics
WhatsApp Deletes 6.8 Million Scam Accounts Amid Rising Global Fraud
×