Childhood obesity levels 'still higher than hoped'

Childhood obesity levels are "still much higher" than health leaders "would like" despite having "plateaued" in recent years, Public Health Jersey has said.

The latest data on children's height and weight showed one in four reception class age children and one in three Year 6 children were classified as overweight.

Head of Health Improvement Martin Knight said tackling the problem required a "holistic approach" and "prevention first" initiatives. Jersey Sport said services "must ensure every young person has an accessible, inclusive path to a healthy life, regardless of financial or personal hurdles".

The BBC has contacted ministers for a response.

The findings come from this year's Jersey Child Measurement Programme report.

It records the height and weight of groups of children in their first year of primary school and their last.

It showed 25% of children in reception were classified as overweight or obese, compared to about 31% of children in Year 6.

Rates of actual obesity - as opposed to merely being overweight - jump from 11% in reception to 17% in Year 6.

Over the long-term, rates in reception-age children had fallen from 29% in the early 2000s to 24% in recent years.

For Year 6 pupils, that figure has remained at 31% over the last decade, which the report described as "stable".

Knight said obesity continued "to be a reasonable public health problem" contributing to "preventable diseases".

"We're kind of plateaued at this point in time... That's good on one hand, but the levels are still much, much higher than we'd like to see," he said.

Knight said "prevention first" initiatives such as free school meals were "brilliant investments" by government, but "behavioural factors" needed more attention.

He said: "When we ask the public they want to be able to eat better, they want government to kind of help them find ways... So, I think kind of working together we will start to incrementally make a difference and quite frankly we need to too".

The report also found differences based on where children live and the type of school they attended.

Year 6 children living in rural areas were less likely to be overweight (25%) than their counterparts in urban areas (38%).

There were also a higher proportion of overweight children in Year 6 at non-fee-paying schools (35%), compared to fee-paying students (22%).

David Kennedy, chief executive of Jersey Sport, said: "It's challenging now for a lot of families, whether that be through access to physical activity, financial constraints or even at times nutritional challenges and culture.

"We want to clearly change the statistics for the better of our young people, but I think we need to also remember that every parent wants their child to be fit and healthy, and I think it's really important that we create a healthy environment but make sure that's an easy one".

He suggested collaboration between a number of services provided the best opportunity for change.

He added: "Childhood obesity is an issue that's not going to be solved in isolation.

"It's not necessarily just a health problem or an education problem or a community problem. We need to get around about the table and understand what a good pathway for any young person to have a fit and healthy life looks like, and make sure that that is accessible.

"[We need to] make sure it's inclusive, regardless of financial background or any other sort of challenges that families may face."

He said Jersey Sport provided funding for more than 100 young people last year to get access to sports clubs, and that, this year, "the demand for that fund is growing... for us, that certainly highlighted the problem."

Kennedy questioned whether schools might need to consider the curriculum and "whether it's still fit for purpose for the modern age", and suggested it could be more "fun and physical activity-related" instead of sport focused.

The Government of Jersey's children's minister and health minister were both unavailable to comment on the report.

The education minister has been contacted for a response.

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