§ Lord Hanningfieldasked Her Majesty's Government:
What proportion of children in England and Wales are (a) overweight; and (b) obese, in the following age groups: (i) 0 to 11 year-olds; (ii) 11 to 16 year-olds; and (iii) 16 to 18 year-olds; and what are the figures relating to each category. [HL941]
§ Lord WarnerThe available information is given in the following table. The figures are taken from the results of the Health Survey for England for 2003, the latest year for which figures are available. The Health Survey for England provides estimates of the underlying population figures but because of the small sample size any representation of the figures as a number of the total population should be treated with caution. Information relating to Wales is a matter for the Welsh administration.
Overweight and obesity prevalence and population estimates in English children and adolescents
Aged 1–18a with a valid body mass index (BMI) measurement BMI status Age 1–11 12–16 17–18 Per cent Per cent Per cent Overweight only 13.7 14.6 14.4 Obese only 14.5 21.5 14.4 Overweight including obese 28.2 36.2 28.9 Bases 2027 1087 395 Surveys estimates represented as a number of the total population Number in millions Number in millions Number in millions Overweight only 0.93 0.46 0.17 Obese only 0.98 0.68 0.17 Overweight including obese 1.92 1.15 0.34 aCalculations not possible for infants aged 0. For infants aged one year BMI was computed using length, not height.
bOverweight was defined as [...] 85th BMI percentile: obese was defined as [...] 95th BMI percentile.
cColumn totals may not add exactly because of rounding.
Source:
Health Survey for England 2003