Childhood obesity for children in Year 6 by London borough (2011/12 and 2021/22)
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Childhood obesity is more prevalent in London than England overall. In 2021/22, some 25.8% of children in Year 6 were considered obese in London, compared to 23.4% in England.
Over the last decade, the prevalence of childhood obesity has risen by 3.3 percentage points in London and 4.2 percentage points in England. The majority of boroughs had a higher prevalence of childhood obesity than England overall in both 2011/12 and 2021/22, although this proportion was higher in 2021/22.
Public Health England’s latest figures in 2021/22 show that Barking and Dagenham has the highest proportion of childhood obesity out of all London boroughs at 33.2%. The borough also had the second largest rise in childhood obesity since 2009/10 (a 6.2 percentage point increase). Newham had a similar increase in childhood obesity (6.3 percentage points compared to 2011/12). At the other end of the scale, 12.8% of Year 6 children in Richmond upon Thames are obese in 2021/22 with just a 0.6 percentage point increase compared to the decade before.
Whilst the majority of boroughs saw rates of childhood obesity rise between 2011/12 and 2021/22, two boroughs saw rates decline. Hammersmith and Fulham experienced the greatest decline in childhood obesity with a 4.0 percentage point decrease within the decade, from 25.4% to 21.4%.