Background
Child healthy weight levels in Tower Hamlets
1 in 5 children in Reception have excess weight, meaning they are overweight or very overweight.
This more than doubles by Year 6, where over 2 in 5 children have excess weight.
Overweight pattern over time
In Reception, the percentage of children with excess weight had been slowly decreasing up to 2017/18. This sharply increased during the Covid-19 pandemic but has now fallen again.
In Year 6, the percentage of children with excess weight had been fairly stable over time. This also sharply increased during the pandemic. Although numbers have fallen, they are still higher than before the pandemic.
Child healthy weight ethnicity inequalities
2019 to 2022
In Reception, excess weight levels were highest among children from a Black ethnic background (26.4%) and those recorded as ‘Other’ (26.2%). Excess weight levels were lowest in children from a White Other (16.1%) ethnic background.
In Year 6, children from Asian (44.3%), Black (43.2%) and Other ethnic backgrounds (43.8%) had the highest levels of excess weight. Children from a White Other background had the lowest (39.8%).
Children from an Asian background experience a sharp rise in rate of overweight from Reception to Year 6.
Child healthy weight and gender
2021 to 22
For both boys and girls, excess weight increases by more than double between reception and Year 6. Rates are higher in males than females, which is more marked in Year 6.
The importance of being a healthy weight
Being an unhealthy weight doubles the risk of dying early and increases a child’s risk of developing a number of health conditions, including type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease and some cancers.
Children who have excess weight are more likely to have high cholesterol, high blood pressure, pre-diabetes, bone and joint problems and breathing difficulties.
It also increases the risk of depression and low self-esteem.
In addition to health impacts, being an unhealthy weight is also associated with school absence in children.
Factors that influence weight
There are a lot of factors that influence weight that are out of children's control.
The environment where a child lives, learns and plays
Tower Hamlets is an urban environment with limited access to green space and high numbers of fast food takeaways. Environmental factors like these increase the risk of being an unhealthy weight. Places where children spend a lot of time, like schools, are also key in supporting children to be active and eat healthily.
Economic status
Limited resources can make it difficult to afford and access healthy food and some leisure activities; with the high cost of living making this particularly challenging.
Access to quality services and resources
Having access to high quality services and resources that support families to be a healthy weight is also important.
Given the many things that influence healthy weight, we need to work with lots of different partners, and take many different actions, to support children and young people to be a healthy weight. This approach is known as a whole-system approach.