More than a third of P1 pupils in Scotland’s most deprived areas are at risk of being overweight or obese, compared to a fifth of youngsters the same age in the most affluent communities.
New figures show a large rise in the proportion of students in their first year of primary school who were found to be at risk of being either overweight or obese, Tes Scotland reports.
In 2020-21, 29.5 per cent of P1 children were found to be at risk of being either overweight or obese, up from 22.7 per cent the previous year.
The research, published by Public Health Scotland, found that 69.8 per cent of P1 children had a healthy weight, with 0.8 per cent at risk of being underweight.
While fewer children had their height and weight checked in 2020-21 than in the previous year - with 37 per cent of P1 children measured, compared to more than 70 per cent pre-pandemic - the report made clear that the “degree of change seen in results in 2020-21 cannot be accounted for solely by differences in the size and composition of the dataset”.
It also noted that “marked socioeconomic inequalities” in children’s weight have developed over the past 20 years, saying that these “have widened with the recent changes”.
In 2020-21, the report found that 35.7 per cent of P1 pupils in the most deprived areas were at risk of being either overweight or obese, a rise of 8.4 percentage points on the previous year. Meanwhile, in the least deprived areas, 20.8 per cent of P1 youngsters were at risk of being overweight or obese, up 3.6 percentage points on 2019-20.
Some 21.1 per cent of P1 children in the most deprived areas were at risk of obesity, according to the data, compared to 8.4 per cent of P1s in the least deprived areas. P1 boys were slightly less likely than girls to have a healthy weight, the figures also show.
The increase in the proportion of youngsters at risk of being overweight or obese comes as the Scottish government is trying to halve levels of childhood obesity before the end of the decade.
A Scottish government spokesperson said: “We’re aiming to halve childhood obesity by 2030 and significantly reduce diet‑related health inequalities by taking forward the actions in 2018 Diet and Healthy Weight Delivery Plan.
“We are investing £3 million, largely through health boards, to implement national standards for weight management services for children and young people - an increase of £0.5 million on last year’s spending.
“We are also seeking to tackle our nation’s damaging relationship with junk food by restricting the promotion and marketing of foods high in fat, sugar or salt. To achieve this we will bring forward legislation for implementation as soon as possible.”
