Unhealthy weight at pre-school age

NCMP data shows that where a child lives can have an impact on their weight, with 2015/2016 data indicating that the North East, West Midlands and London have the highest levels of obesity at reception age. These regions are closely followed by the North West. London has been found to have the highest levels of underweight children at reception age.

NCMP data shows that where a child lives can have an impact on their weight. In the 2019/2020 school year children living in the most deprived areas were more than twice as likely to be obese than those living in the least deprived areas.

The 2019/2020 NCMP data showed that overweight and obesity were highest in Black and Black British children (28.5% of reception children with overweight or obesity) and lowest for Chinese children (14.9% of reception children with overweight or obesity)> Asian and Asian British children were found to have the highest levels of underweight (3.5%). The impact of ethnicity on child weight is further explored in the Cultural Considerations module.