Childhood obesity for children in Year 6 by London borough (2012/13 and 2022/23)
Childhood obesity is more prevalent in London than England overall. In 2022/23, 24.8% of children in Year 6 were considered obese in London, compared to 22.7% in England.
Over the last decade, the prevalence of childhood obesity has risen by 2.4 percentage points in London and 3.8 percentage points in England. The majority of London boroughs had a higher prevalence of childhood obesity than England overall in both 2012/13 and 2022/23.
Public Health England’s latest figures in 2022/23 show that Barking and Dagenham has the highest proportion of childhood obesity out of all London boroughs at 31.7%. The borough also had the largest rise in childhood obesity since 2012/13 (a 6.5 percentage point increase). At the other end of the scale, 12% of Year 6 children in Richmond upon Thames are obese in 2022/23 with just a 0.3 percentage point decrease compared to the decade before.
While the majority of boroughs saw rates of childhood obesity rise between 2012/13 and 2022/23, five boroughs saw rates decline. Sutton experienced the greatest decline in childhood obesity with a 2.2 percentage point decrease within the decade, from 20% to 17.8%.