Children in Sandwell are third fattest in the UK

Latest figures show that well over a quarter of 10 and 11 year olds in the borough are now clinically obese, coming third in the national tables behind two London boroughs.

The statistics show that that 28.1 per cent of youngsters in this age category in Sandwell are now considered obese, meaning they are at least 20 per cent heavier than they should be. The figure compares to 27.4 per cent last year.

A further 14.2 per cent in the same age group are heavier than they should be, although not obese, while 7.5 per cent are classed as severely obese, with a BMI of 40 or more.

Overall more than four in 10 children in the borough are officially overweight.

The news follows the publication last week of the Wolverhampton childhood obesity figures, with the city ranking the fifth worst in the country.

Some 26.8 per cent of children in Year 6 – and almost 50 per cent in Bilston East and 44 per cent in Blakenhall – are classed as obese.

In Walsall, 25.6 per cent of youngsters that age are obese, while in Dudley, boasting the lowest rate in the Black Country, the 25.5 per cent figure is still higher than the national average of 20.1 per cent, fractionally up on the previous year.

The figures were published by the National Child Measurement Programme, which each year measures the height and weight of more than a million children in Reception and Year 6 to assess childhood obesity.

The data shows that children often develop weight problems while at primary school.

In Sandwell 12.4 per cent of Reception-aged children, those aged four and five, are classed as clinically obese - up from 12 per cent, also one of the highest rates in the country, with severely obese children making up 3.6 per cent of four- and five-year-olds in the borough.

Public Health Minister Steve Brine said: “Obesity is a problem that has been decades in the making – we cannot expect to see a reversal in trends overnight – but we have been clear that we are willing to do whatever it takes to keep children healthy and well in this country.

“We have already removed tons of sugar from children’s diets through the sugar tax, which has funded vital school sports and breakfast programmes, and this summer we announced the second chapter of our childhood obesity strategy with a series of bold plans to halve child obesity by 2030.”

Caroline Cerny, of the Obesity Health Alliance, a coalition of leading health charities, medical royal colleges and campaign groups, said the rise reflected a wider unhealthy lifestyle that pushes children towards sugary and fatty food and drinks but she insisted there were ways to attack the problem.

“We need to start with reducing the number of junk food adverts children see before a 9pm watershed, restrictions on junk food promotions in supermarkets and the food industry stepping up efforts to reduce sugar and fat from everyday foods,” she said.