National child measurement programme (NCMP): changes in child BMI between 2019 to 2020 and 2020 to 2021
A report that presents analysis of the changes in children's body mass index (BMI) between 2019 to 2020 and 2020 to 2021.
Applies to England
Documents
Details
This report examines the changes in the prevalence of obesity and severe obesity between academic years 2019 to 2020 and 2020 to 2021 using data from the NCMP.
Changes in prevalence are examined for children in Reception (aged 4 to 5 years) and Year 6 (aged 10 to 11 years) in mainstream state-funded schools in England. Changes in prevalence are examined within different regional, socioeconomic and ethnic groups, to assess whether existing disparities in child obesity have improved or worsened.
The HTML report and data tables can be used freely with acknowledgement to the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID).
School closures in March 2020, due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, meant that in 2019 to 2020 the number of children measured was around 75% of previous years. The start of the 2020 to 2021 NCMP was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2020 to 2021 NCMP collection achieved around 25% of a usual full measurement year. Analysis by NHS Digital and OHID shows that national data is reliable and comparable to previous years.