Overweight children
Published
1. Main facts and figures
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in the 2022 to 2023 school year, 21.3% of 4 to 5 year olds in England were overweight or living with obesity – down from 21.9% in the 2014 to 2015 school year
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36.6% of 10 to 11 year olds were overweight or living with obesity – up from 33.2% in the 2014 to 2015 school year
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black African children were the most likely out of all ethnic groups to be overweight or living with obesity, among both 4 to 5 year olds (27.7%) and 10 to 11 year olds (47.7%)
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children in the Chinese ethnic group were the least likely to be overweight or living with obesity, among both 4 to 5 year olds (11.2%) and 10 to 11 year olds (26.7%)
2. Things you need to know
What the data measures
The data measures the percentage of children in state-funded mainstream primary schools who are overweight or living with obesity.
Estimates are shown for 2 school years:
- reception year (when children are usually 4 to 5 years old)
- year 6 (when children are usually 10 to 11 years old)
Children are defined as overweight or living with obesity based on their body mass index (BMI), which is measured using their weight, height, age and sex.
Percentages are rounded to 1 decimal place.
Not included in the data
The data does not include children in independent and special schools.
The ethnic groups used in the data
Estimates are shown for the 16 ethnic groups used in the 2001 Census.
Methodology
Read the detailed methodology documents for the data on this page.
Data for the school years between 2019 and 2021 was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Further details can be found in the data quality statement.
In the data file
See Download the data for confidence intervals for each ethnic group.
Find out how we use confidence intervals to determine how reliable estimates are.
3. By ethnicity
| 2014/15 | 2015/16 | 2016/17 | 2017/18 | 2018/19 | 2019/20 | 2020/21 | 2021/22 | 2022/23 | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ethnicity | 2014/15 4 to 5 year olds (%) | 2014/15 10 to 11 year olds (%) | 2015/16 4 to 5 year olds (%) | 2015/16 10 to 11 year olds (%) | 2016/17 4 to 5 year olds (%) | 2016/17 10 to 11 year olds (%) | 2017/18 4 to 5 year olds (%) | 2017/18 10 to 11 year olds (%) | 2018/19 4 to 5 year olds (%) | 2018/19 10 to 11 year olds (%) | 2019/20 4 to 5 year olds (%) | 2019/20 10 to 11 year olds (%) | 2020/21 4 to 5 year olds (%) | 2020/21 10 to 11 year olds (%) | 2021/22 4 to 5 year olds (%) | 2021/22 10 to 11 year olds (%) | 2022/23 4 to 5 year olds (%) | 2022/23 10 to 11 year olds (%) |
| All | 21.9 | 33.2 | 22.1 | 34.2 | 22.6 | 34.2 | 22.4 | 34.3 | 22.6 | 34.3 | 23.0 | 35.2 | 27.7 | 40.9 | 22.3 | 37.8 | 21.3 | 36.6 |
| Asian | ||||||||||||||||||
| Bangladeshi | 21.6 | 43.0 | 20.3 | 42.7 | 21.4 | 44.3 | 20.7 | 43.9 | 21.4 | 44.5 | 21.5 | 45.1 | 29.0 | 51.5 | 22.2 | 47.7 | 18.0 | 45.1 |
| Indian | 14.9 | 35.1 | 14.5 | 36.3 | 14.9 | 36.7 | 13.8 | 36.5 | 14.0 | 36.2 | 13.8 | 36.2 | 20.1 | 42.1 | 14.4 | 38.7 | 11.8 | 35.6 |
| Pakistani | 19.8 | 39.1 | 19.2 | 40.6 | 20.2 | 40.6 | 20.4 | 40.2 | 19.9 | 40.8 | 20.4 | 40.7 | 28.7 | 47.6 | 20.2 | 43.7 | 18.4 | 41.8 |
| Asian other | 19.4 | 38.6 | 19.6 | 38.2 | 19.3 | 40.8 | 19.7 | 38.8 | 19.1 | 39.4 | 18.9 | 40.0 | 26.0 | 48.3 | 19.6 | 42.1 | 17.5 | 39.5 |
| Black | ||||||||||||||||||
| Black African | 30.8 | 44.8 | 31.2 | 45.9 | 31.1 | 46.2 | 30.8 | 46.0 | 30.9 | 45.8 | 29.8 | 46.2 | 39.0 | 52.5 | 30.3 | 49.6 | 27.7 | 47.7 |
| Black Caribbean | 24.7 | 43.1 | 25.2 | 45.3 | 25.3 | 45.4 | 25.2 | 44.2 | 26.3 | 43.8 | 26.3 | 44.9 | 33.9 | 49.4 | 26.1 | 48.1 | 23.4 | 45.1 |
| Black other | 28.7 | 43.4 | 28.4 | 41.6 | 27.9 | 43.9 | 28.1 | 43.0 | 29.0 | 44.6 | 26.7 | 42.6 | 37.1 | 54.8 | 29.4 | 48.9 | 24.6 | 46.7 |
| Mixed | ||||||||||||||||||
| Mixed White/Asian | 15.6 | 29.4 | 16.2 | 30.1 | 15.7 | 29.6 | 15.5 | 29.7 | 16.1 | 31.4 | 17.0 | 31.4 | 22.7 | 36.8 | 16.2 | 34.2 | 16.0 | 32.1 |
| Mixed White/Black African | 28.6 | 39.6 | 26.7 | 40.3 | 28.3 | 39.6 | 27.7 | 41.5 | 27.2 | 42.0 | 27.4 | 43.4 | 30.8 | 46.8 | 27.6 | 43.8 | 25.2 | 44.3 |
| Mixed White/Black Caribbean | 25.5 | 39.5 | 24.9 | 39.4 | 25.9 | 40.1 | 25.4 | 40.3 | 25.9 | 40.1 | 27.1 | 41.0 | 29.1 | 49.0 | 26.6 | 43.5 | 25.0 | 42.2 |
| Mixed other | 22.1 | 35.2 | 22.0 | 36.7 | 21.7 | 34.2 | 20.5 | 35.1 | 21.9 | 35.4 | 21.2 | 36.4 | 28.2 | 42.7 | 21.6 | 38.7 | 20.0 | 37.0 |
| White | ||||||||||||||||||
| White British | 22.1 | 31.3 | 22.4 | 31.9 | 22.9 | 31.6 | 22.7 | 31.9 | 23.1 | 31.7 | 23.8 | 32.9 | 27.6 | 38.4 | 22.9 | 35.5 | 22.4 | 34.9 |
| White Irish | 23.8 | 31.8 | 24.7 | 32.8 | 26.6 | 33.3 | 23.7 | 31.7 | 24.6 | 31.3 | 23.2 | 34.9 | 28.1 | 43.8 | 22.7 | 38.3 | 22.6 | 34.6 |
| White other | 20.7 | 35.1 | 20.4 | 36.2 | 20.9 | 36.0 | 20.7 | 35.8 | 20.7 | 35.5 | 21.2 | 36.7 | 25.9 | 42.1 | 20.2 | 38.7 | 19.5 | 37.5 |
| Other including Chinese | ||||||||||||||||||
| Chinese | 17.3 | 29.8 | 17.1 | 30.2 | 15.8 | 33.9 | 18.3 | 30.1 | 14.5 | 30.5 | 14.9 | 32.9 | 18.3 | 41.1 | 13.6 | 30.6 | 11.2 | 26.7 |
| Any other | 23.2 | 39.1 | 23.8 | 40.6 | 22.9 | 40.7 | 23.5 | 39.6 | 23.1 | 40.8 | 23.2 | 40.4 | 31.4 | 47.3 | 24.1 | 43.7 | 22.2 | 41.6 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity’ (CSV)
4. Data sources
Source
National Child Measurement Programme
Type of data
Administrative data
Type of statistic
Official statistics
Publisher
NHS England
Publication frequency
Yearly
Purpose of data source
The National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP) measures the height and weight of children in reception class (aged 4 to 5) and year 6 (aged 10 to 11), to assess overweight and obesity levels in children within primary schools.
5. Download the data
This file contains the following: measure, ethnicity, ethnicity_type, time, time_type, geography, geography_type, geography_code, gender, age, value, value_type, denominator, numerator, upper_95_c_i, lower_95_c_i