wrans/answers2025-02-18 conversation_86
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-18)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-02-18 conversation_86

Jas Athwal:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an estimate of the level of obesity in the (a) richest and (b) poorest areas of Ilford South constituency; and if he will make an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of the impact of poverty on obesity. \p Ashley Dalton: The data is not available in the format requested. Prevalence of obesity for children aged four to five years old and 10 to 11 years old is available from the National Child Measurement Programme. The Department publish breakdowns of obesity prevalence by Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) quintile at a local authority level. Information is not available for Ilford South, but it is available for the London Borough of Redbridge, which includes Ilford South. The following table shows the obesity prevalence by IMD quintile and school year for the London Borough of Redbridge:

IMD quintile

Obesity prevalence for children in Reception, aged four to five years old

Obesity prevalence for children in Year 6, aged 10 to 11 years old

Most deprived quintile 1

15.4%

30.6%

2

12.1%

28.9%

3

10.8%

26.2%

4

8.1%

23.1%

Least deprived quintile 5

5.4%

17.4%

Source: National Child Measurement Programme, five years of data combined for academic years ending 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023, 2024.

The prevalence of obesity in adults by local authority or parliamentary constituency and deprivation is not available.

Poverty is wide determinant of health. Although poverty is not a direct cause of specific health conditions, poverty can be a risk factor for malnutrition, obesity, ill mental health, and tooth decay. The Department is working closely with the Child Poverty Taskforce to develop and deliver an ambitious strategy to reduce child poverty, tackle the root causes, and give every child the best start in life. An important part of this will be alleviating the negative experiences of living in poverty through supporting families and enhancing public services.

Under the Health Mission, the Government is committed to prevention and to tackling obesity, creating a fairer, healthier food environment. This will contribute to the mission goals of fewer lives lost to the biggest killers and a fairer Britain where everyone lives well for longer.

The Government has already laid secondary legislation to restrict the advertisement of less healthy food and drink to children on television and online from 1 October 2025, announced changes to the planning framework for fast food outlets near schools, and is committed to banning the sale of high-caffeine energy drinks to under-16 year olds.

Existing initiatives such as the Healthy Start scheme, introduced in 2006, encourage a healthy diet for pregnant women, babies, and young children under four years old from very low-income households. Pregnant women and families with children aged over one years old and under four years old each receive £4.25 every week, and families with children under one years old each receive £8.50 every week. Healthy Start can be used to buy, or be put towards the cost of, fresh, frozen or tinned fruit and vegetables, fresh, dried and tinned pulses, milk and infant formula. Healthy Start beneficiaries also have access to free Healthy Start vitamins.

Disadvantaged pupils in state-funded schools, as well as 16 to 18-year-old students in further education, are entitled to receive free meals on the basis of low income. In addition, all children in Reception, Year 1, and Year 2 in England's state-funded schools are entitled to universal infant free school meals.  The Government also supports families through the Holiday Activities and Food programme, which provides free childcare places, enriching activities, and healthy meals to children from low-income families, benefiting their health, wellbeing, and learning throughout the school holidays.

At a local level, officials in the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities’ regional teams work closely with local partners, including local authorities and the National Health Service, to support them with local initiatives to promote a healthy lifestyle and tackle obesity. All of our polices and their impacts are kept under review.