Release: National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP) 2015/16

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NHS Digital have released the National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP) results for the 2015/16 school year.

Children in reception class (aged 4 to 5 years) and year 6 (aged 10 to 11 years) have their height and weight measured to assess overweight and obesity levels in children within state-maintained primary schools. This data is used at a national level to support local public health initiatives and inform the local planning and delivery of services for children.

The West Sussex Public Health and Social Research Unit have completed a data briefing (NCMP: 2015/16) to summarise childhood obesity prevalence at a local level.

Key Facts

In England, over a fifth of reception children were overweight or obese, and in year 6 it was over a third. Nationally, the prevalence of obesity has increased since 2014/15 in both reception and year 6.
In West Sussex, prevalence of obesity was lower than national, but not regional levels; with 19.9% of reception age children (4-5 years old) and 30.4% of year 6 children (10-11 years old) measured as overweight or obese.
Within local authorities, the prevalence of overweight and obesity is varied. For both school years, there was no significant change in the percentage of overweight/obese children for any one local authority within West Sussex compared to the previous year.