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National Child Measurement Programme
2006/07 school year headline results

This report summaries the key findings from the Government’s National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP). The report provides high-level analysis of the prevalence of obese and overweight children in Reception (aged 4-5 years) and Year 6 (aged 10-11 years), measured in the school year 2006/07.

Key findings include:

• In Reception, almost one in four of the children measured was either overweight or obese. In Year 6, this rate was nearly one in three;
• The prevalence of obesity is significantly higher in boys than in girls in both age groups;
• The percentage of children who are overweight is only slightly higher in Year 6 than in Reception;
• The percentage of children who are overweight is similar for boys and girls in year 6: in Reception, this rate is slightly higher for boys than for girls.
• Obesity prevalence is significantly higher than the national average in the North East, West Midlands and London SHAs for both school years.
• Obesity prevalence is significantly below the national average in the South East Coast, South Central, South West and East of England SHAs for children in both school years, as well as for Year 6 children in the East Midlands SHA.
• Obesity prevalence is higher in urban areas than in rural areas.
• There is a strong positive relationship between deprivation and obesity prevalence for children in Reception and Year 6.
• When interpreting the results, it is important to consider the possible effects of participation rate on prevalence rates. Since the participation rate was less than 100%, data will be missing for certain children. If these missing data were atypical, results could be biased. For example, if children with higher BMI scores opted out of being measured, overweight and obese prevalence would be underestimated. Analysis later in the report shows that Year 6 prevalence of obese and overweight may be slightly underestimated but that results for Reception children are likely to be more robust.

• National Child Measurement Programme: results from the 2006/07 school year (opens new window)