Councils have made good progress but more needs to be done especially to reduce the gap between the most and least deprived.
Commenting on new figures from the National Child Measurement Programme which shows a small drop in the rate of childhood obesity, Cllr David Fothergill, Chairman of the Local Government Association’s Community Wellbeing Board said:
“We are encouraged to see a decline in the prevalence of overweight and obesity amongst children.
“However, this data does show some areas for concern. Children living in the most deprived areas are more than twice as likely to be living with obesity than children in the least deprived areas and there’s an alarming increase in year six pupils who are underweight.
“Councils have made good progress, from health visitors supporting new parents to providing access to weight management services, but more needs to be done especially to reduce the gap between the most and least deprived.
“The public health grant which goes to fund these vital support services has been reduced by over £1 billion since 2015.
“Councils need to see a longer term increase in this to allow them to invest in services, which will help to further cut rates of childhood obesity and improve health outcomes in all local communities.”