More than two in every five Year 6-aged children in Knowsley are overweight, and the borough has the second-highest obesity rate in the country, figures show. Some 43.3% of Year 6 pupils were overweight or obese in 2024/5, compared to a national proportion of 35.8% and a North West average of 38%, and Knowsley ranks seventh highest nationally for this measure, council documents show.
Meanwhile, 30.1% of Year 6 children are obese, compared to 22.2% nationally and 23.6% in the North West. Among four to five-year-olds in Reception, 29.7% were overweight or obese, an increase of nearly 1% on the previous year. Nationally, the proportion was 23.5% and in the North West it was 25%. Knowsley had the fifth highest rate of children being overweight or obese in the country.
Obesity rates and inequalities
Some 12.5% of four and five-year-olds were obese, compared to 10.5% nationally and 11.5% in the North West, although Knowsley’s percentage had fallen by a percentage point over the year.
More positively, figures also show that the proportion of overweight and obese children is rising at a fast rate regionally and nationally, suggesting that the inequality gap between Knowsley and other areas may be narrowing.
Emerging provisional figures from 2025/6 suggest that rates remained similar among Reception children and increased slightly among Year 6.
While around two thirds of children in Knowsley remain in the same weight category between Reception and Year 6, almost 30% gain weight, while 7% improve.
Being obese contributes to poor health outcomes generally, and makes it more likely that someone will die young.
Food deserts and affordability
Knowsley Council is working to make sure that by 2030, the borough will be a place where people are just as likely to be healthy no matter where they live, and where young people can look forward to a healthy future.
The council said that children from lower income households are more than twice as likely to live with overweight or obesity than those in high income households, partly because healthy foods cost more than twice as much per calorie as less healthy options, and often require more preparation time and fuel expense.
For some families, maintaining a healthy diet could require up to 45–70% of disposable income on the food purchase alone.
Knowsley is also among the 10 most significant "food deserts" in England, where access to healthy food can be limited by the distances between shops and difficulty accessing them for people without cars.
Local convenience stores are more expensive than supermarkets and often stock fewer fresh options, but for many they are the most accessible option.
Healthy swaps in schools
Knowsley’s long-term aim is to ensure that all children start Reception at a healthy weight and no child leaves primary school classed as obese, and it has a number of schemes in place to achieve this.
The council’s Healthy Schools Programme, launched in 2024, involves every primary school in the borough, and works to support primary and SEND schools to create a positive healthy environment through nutritious menus and by promoting active lifestyles.
For example, fruit and yoghurt is provided every day for dessert, with sweeter options only offered on two days. Children are only given water and milk to drink, and a variety of vegetables are used in meals.
In high schools, council catering aims to prioritise health outcomes over profit, but “grab-and-go” options which are typically high in carbohydrates and with a low nutritional value, remain the most popular choice among children.
The council is therefore working with partners to reformulate recipes to, for example, offer smaller cookies with reduced sugar and to expand fruit and vegetable options.
Since covid, the council has also been supporting a network of food clubs, social supermarkets and food banks, and is exploring more sustainable approaches to crisis food support.
Challenges and scrutiny
At a meeting of the Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee on Wednesday, Labour councillor Gary See remarked that 77% of Knowsley is a food desert, adding: “All the work we can do with children, which is fantastic […] can sometimes be totally undone when those children go home.”
Public health consultant Dr Richard Holford responded: “Affordability, food deserts, accessibility is a key challenge in the borough and something we’re really aware of.”
Green councillor Cath Golding asked how the council is going to “target our 40% of children who go to out-of-borough schools?”
Dr Holford said: “We’ll take that away because it’s not something we have picked up to be honest. Childhood obesity and healthy weight is a challenge across all our neighbouring authorities, so we do work quite closely with them.”
Chantelle Lunt, who is also a Green councillor, asked how council staff deal with the “impact of shame” on people who may be overweight or obese, and who may stop engaging with health services because of this feeling.
Public health programme manager Jackie McMenamy said that all staff receive training in how to approach situations to “reduce that stigma”.
Poppy Williams, who is a member of the youth parliament for Knowsley, asked if the public health team were able to “pinpoint” the age at which the highest proportion of children become overweight or obese.
Dr Holford said: “We’ve only got those two points that we measure. So we haven’t got any insight in terms of the start of primary school and the end of primary school, whether there’s a tipping point.”
“But what you are in Reception is a big determination point.” He added that deprivation has a bigger impact the older a child gets.
Poppy also asked how the council will work with high school pupils to encourage a healthy lifestyle, adding: “Just changing a menu doesn’t get people involved. It doesn’t make people want to accept change.”
School food advisor Sophie Aherne said that the council has engaged with a small group of pupils, but is “more than happy” to speak with a wider cohort. She added: “We want to work with young people on how we can make the school environment healthier.”
