Fifth of First Year Primary School Goers are Overweight

Fri, 18 Dec 2009
New statistics show that a fifth of all first year primary school pupils in Scotland are overweight, the lowest proportion since 2000-01.

2008-09 figures show that 19.8% of first year primary school children weighed too much, however, the figure is down slightly from 2007-08 when 20% were overweight.

Opposition parties accused the government of breaking promises.

However, the Scottish government welcomed the "downward trend" and said action is needed to reduce obesity .

The figures are based on body mass index (BMI), which uses a height and weight formula.

19.8% of first year primary school children throughout Scotland were classed as overweight, with a further 8% of first year primary shcool children being obese and 3.9% severely obese .

However, in Scotland's most deprived areas, 21.2% of first year primary schoolchildren were overweight, with a further 9.2% being obese and 4.7% severely obese.

In the wealthiest areas 16.7% of primary one children were overweight, 6.2% obese and 2.6% severely obese.

Childhood obesity can cause several health problems later in life, such as, diabetes, heart disease, back pain, osteoarthritis and cancer .

The Lib Dem health spokesman Ross Finnie defined childhood obesity as a "a ticking time bomb" and stated that, as of September, only a third of primary schools had hit the government's target for physical education.

The figures are undoubtedly worrying.

A promise of two hours of quality physical education a week had yet to be met by the SNP government.

The level of obesity remains too high and diets and the levels of physical activity undertaken by children need to be reviewed should Scotland wish to see overweight and obesity levels decrease.

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