Proportion of children with a healthy weight comparable to pre-pandemic levels but issues remain
Published: 23 May 2023
Click here to view Child Measurement Programme annual report
The percentage of children who are living with overweight or with obesity remains higher in the areas with the greatest deprivation in all six health boards for which data were collected. The chart below illustrates this data.
The largest inequality gap is in Cardiff and Vale UHB where 29.8% of children living in the most deprived fifth being overweight or with obesity compared to 18.0% of children living in the most deprived fifth. Whilst the narrowest gap is in Powys THB which reports 26.4% of children in the most deprived compared with 21.2% in the least deprived fifth. However, deprivation gaps should not be compared between health boards because the extremes of deprivation will vary greatly. For example, Cardiff and Vale UHB is far more socio-economically diverse than Powys tHB.
In addition to health board and local authority data, Primary Care Cluster (PCC) level has been produced. Maps presenting obesity by PCC area are available for each local health board for which data were collected.
Data collection in 2021/22 was still disrupted with no data available for Cwm Taf Morgannwg UHB due to on-going effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. This means that we cannot provide an overall figure for Wales. For further information please visit the Child Measurement Programme for Wales.
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