Less P1 children considered obese
But families encouraged to Get Going
The number of primary one children in West Lothian who are at risk of being obese has dropped.
New figures have revealed 21.4 per cent of children (438) starting their first year of school were deemed overweight or obese in 2018/2019, down from 23.7 per cent the previous period.
The weight and height of some 2046 youngsters was recorded, with 216 being classed as overweight and 222 as obese in 2018/19.
But this has fallen from the previous period (2017/18) when 479 children were classed as overweight or obese.
The improvement has been welcomed after a patchy few years that saw figures fluctuate. Despite the most recent drop, 92 more children are overweight or obese than in 2016/ 17 and the period that saw the lowest level was 2009/ 10 when 17.2 per cent ( 314) were classed as having a weight problem.
Cath Morrison, programme manager, child health eight, NHS Lothian, encouraged parents who are worried about their children’s weight to sign up for programmes like Get Going, which encourages healthy eating and exercise.
She said: “The primary one figures across Edinburgh and Lothian are promising as we can see that the majority of children, over 77 per cent, are a healthy weight.
“Despite this, however, we are still seeing a number of children and young people who are above a healthy weight.
“One of the most effective ways for parents to help children is to make healthy changes for the whole family.
“We have to recognise that eating a healthy diet and being active is often hard, but programmes like Get Going really do make a positive difference.”
Cath added: “Guilt and blame don’t motivate change, they just make people feel bad.
“The G e t G o i n g programme has been specifically designed to help children and their families to make those little changes which can have a big impact on their health.”
Since 2001/02, the overall proportion of primary one children who are at risk of being overweight or obese has remained fairly constant across Scotland.
However, there are now substantial inequalities in child unhealthy weight.
The proportion of primary one children at risk of obesity or being overweight has increased in the most deprived areas but decreased in the least deprived areas.
Boys in P1 are slightly less likely than girls to have a healthy weight.
A child’s BMI is calculated by dividing their weight (in kilogrammes) by their height (in metres) squared.
Children are then allocated to a healthy or unhealthy weight category by comparing their BMI to the range of BMIs seen among a reference group of children of the same age and sex.
This summary provides i n f o rmation on the proportion of children found to be at risk of having an unhealthy weight based on the thresholds used for monitoring the health of the child population.
There is continued concern over the levels of overweight and obese children in Scotland.
Obesity during childhood is a health concern in itself and it can also lead to physical and mental health problems throughout adulthood.
But being underweight in childhood can also be a cause for concern, indicating poor nutritional intake and/or underlying medical problems.
For more information about Get Going visit https:// www.nhslothian.scot.nhs. uk/getgoing/