Previous JSNA products - Staffordshire Observatory

Contents

Excess weight in children

  • 1 in 4 (25%) reception children are overweight or obese (excess weight) – worse than England and the second highest of similar authorities. However, by year 6 prevalence (34%) is lower than national.
  • Activity levels remain a challenge with 1 in 3 children active for less than 30 minutes a day, higher than national (March 2020).
  • East Staffordshire and Newcastle are key areas of focus with higher than average prevalence for both obesity and excess weight.
  • Localities with the highest levels of excess weight for both reception children and year 6 include: Cannock East, Horninglow, Glascote, Holditch & Chesterton and Kidsgrove & Ravenscliffe.

Reception age obesity and excess weight (2017/18 - 2019/20)






Horizontal bar chart comparing obesity and excess weight percentages across England, Staffordshire, and Staffordshire districts. England shows 10% obesity and 23% excess weight. Staffordshire overall shows 10% obesity and 25% excess weight. Newcastle-under-Lyme has the highest obesity rate at 13% and one of the highest excess weight rates at 27%. East Staffordshire also records 27% excess weight. Tamworth and Cannock Chase each show 10% obesity and 26% excess weight. South Staffordshire shows 11% obesity and 25% excess weight. Staffordshire Moorlands shows 10% obesity and 24% excess weight. Stafford and Lichfield have the lowest obesity rates at 9%, with Lichfield also having the lowest excess weight rate at 23%. Dark blue bars represent obesity and light blue bars represent excess weight, with error bars shown for each measure.

Source:  National Child Measurement Programme, NHS Digital / Public Health England

Excess weight in reception (2017/2018 to 2019/20)






Vertical bar chart comparing excess weight prevalence across selected local authorities and averages. Staffordshire is highlighted in yellow at 25%, similar to Lincolnshire. England and the CIPFA group average are highlighted in blue at around 22% to 23%. Cumbria has the highest value at just over 25%, while West Sussex has the lowest at around 19%. Most other areas, including Lancashire, Derbyshire, Gloucestershire, Norfolk, Nottinghamshire, Warwickshire, Essex, Worcestershire, Leicestershire, and Suffolk, range between 20% and 24%. The y-axis shows percentages from 0% to 25%.

Source:  National Child Measurement Programme, NHS Digital / Public Health England