Asked by: Matt Western (Labour - Warwick and Leamington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he plans to take to reduce adult obesity.
Answered by Maggie Throup
New regulations on calorie labelling for out of home food sold in large businesses, including restaurants, cafes and takeaways came into force on 6 April 2022. Further legislation on restrictions on the promotion and advertising of products high in fat, salt or sugar will come into effect in due course. Through our reformulation programmes, we are ensuring that the food and drink available to consumers is healthier. The Soft Drinks Industry Levy has reduced sugar in the drinks within its scope by 43.7% since its introduction.
Asked by: Matt Western (Labour - Warwick and Leamington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he plans to take to reduce childhood obesity.
Answered by Maggie Throup
New regulations on calorie labelling for out of home food sold in large businesses, including restaurants, cafes and takeaways came into force on 6 April 2022. Further legislation on restrictions on the promotion and advertising of products high in fat, salt or sugar will come into effect in due course. Through our reformulation programmes, we are ensuring that the food and drink available to consumers is healthier. The Soft Drinks Industry Levy has reduced sugar in the drinks within its scope by 43.7% since its introduction.
Asked by: Matt Western (Labour - Warwick and Leamington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, in how many English local authorities the rate of adult obesity has increased between 2012 and 2022.
Answered by Maggie Throup
Data from the Health Survey for England (HSE) shows that obesity prevalence in adults in England has increased from 24.7% in 2012 to 28.0% in 2019, the latest data available.
Data for local authorities is not held in the format requested as this records combined overweight and obese categories. However, the latest data available from the Active Lives Adult Survey shows that the proportion of adults classified as overweight or living with obesity statistically significantly increased between 2015/16 and 2019/20 in 17 of 148 upper tier local authorities. No local authorities had statistically significant decreases.
Asked by: Matt Western (Labour - Warwick and Leamington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many local authorities have experienced an increase in the rate of childhood obesity between 2012 and 2022.
Answered by Maggie Throup
In England the proportion of children living with obesity has increased since 2012. Data from the National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP) shows that for children aged four to five years old, obesity prevalence between 2011/2012 and 2020/2021, the latest year available, has increased from 9.5% to 14.4% and for children aged 10 to 11 years old, it has increased from 19.2% to 25.5%. Data from the Health Survey for England shows that obesity prevalence in children aged two to 15 years old increased from 13.7% in 2012 to 16.3% in 2019, the latest data available.
Local authority child obesity prevalence is collected via the NCMP. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, insufficient data for 2020/21 was collected to produce statistically robust results. Data from 2019/2020 was published for the majority of local authorities. When comparing the 2019/2020 estimate to 2011/2012 in children aged four to five years old, of 141 upper tier local authorities, 29 had obesity prevalence estimates which were statistically significantly higher and 13 were statistically significantly lower. In children aged 10 to 11 years old, 61 out of 144 local authorities had statistically significantly higher obesity prevalence estimates and 1 had a statistically significantly lower obesity prevalence.
Asked by: Matt Western (Labour - Warwick and Leamington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many local authorities have experienced a decline in the rate of childhood obesity between 2012 and 2022.
Answered by Maggie Throup
In England the proportion of children living with obesity has increased since 2012. Data from the National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP) shows that for children aged four to five years old, obesity prevalence between 2011/2012 and 2020/2021, the latest year available, has increased from 9.5% to 14.4% and for children aged 10 to 11 years old, it has increased from 19.2% to 25.5%. Data from the Health Survey for England shows that obesity prevalence in children aged two to 15 years old increased from 13.7% in 2012 to 16.3% in 2019, the latest data available.
Local authority child obesity prevalence is collected via the NCMP. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, insufficient data for 2020/21 was collected to produce statistically robust results. Data from 2019/2020 was published for the majority of local authorities. When comparing the 2019/2020 estimate to 2011/2012 in children aged four to five years old, of 141 upper tier local authorities, 29 had obesity prevalence estimates which were statistically significantly higher and 13 were statistically significantly lower. In children aged 10 to 11 years old, 61 out of 144 local authorities had statistically significantly higher obesity prevalence estimates and 1 had a statistically significantly lower obesity prevalence.