Child obesity statistics

Of growing concern are child obesity statistics with increasing numbers of boys and girls under the age of 11 now seriously overweight.

The Department of Health child obesity statistics show that between 1995 and 2003, the prevalence among children aged two to 10 rose from 9.9% to 13.7%. The biggest increase was among eight to 10 year-olds, from 11.2% to 16.5% during the eight-year period.

These child obesity statistics indicate that we are in the middle of an epidemic of alarming proportions that is wreaking havoc on our kids' health. The figures also show that the incidence of this is not uniform. Other details highlighted include:

• The greatest increases were found in the poorest areas of the country, with the highest levels found amongst those living in the most deprived areas of England.
• Children living in inner city areas were particularly prone.
• There was also a big increase in those who were overweight, and therefore on the road to full-blown obesity.
  
  

The role of parents was also highlighted - overweight parents were much more likely to have overweight kids. In families where both parents were overweight about 20% of kids were overweight - this compares to around 7% in households where neither parents were overweight and 8.4% of children where one of the two parents were overweight.