Hundreds of thousands of children in England are growing up overweight or obese due to widening health disparities across the country, according to a new analysis by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) and analytics consultancy LCP.
The analysis, shared exclusively with the Guardian, suggests that one in 12 cases of childhood obesity could be avoided if health outcomes in the worst-performing areas were improved to match the best. Of the 1.4 million 10- and 11-year-olds in England, around 35% (488,586 children) are overweight or obese, putting them at higher risk of conditions such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and cancer later in life.
If health outcomes everywhere matched those in the best-performing areas—such as the home counties and affluent London boroughs—the proportion could fall to 32%, meaning 41,879 fewer overweight or obese children in Year 6 this year alone. Barking and Dagenham, the worst-performing area, has double the rate of overweight or obese children compared to Richmond upon Thames, the best area. Barking and Dagenham also has nearly five times higher child poverty rates and 10% lower early years development levels.
IPPR senior research fellow Chris Thomas said: “Unless there is urgent intervention to tackle widening health disparities, our analysis suggests hundreds of thousands more children will grow up overweight or obese simply because of where they grew up.” He called on the government to take tough action on material inequalities and poverty, warning that obesity poses a threat to health, economic prosperity, and the government’s ‘levelling up’ agenda.
The IPPR is urging the government to introduce an annual public health budget modelled on New Zealand’s, ringfencing 5% of total government spending (approximately £35bn a year in England) for improving public health and closing health disparities. This could be announced in the upcoming comprehensive spending review.
