Rates of obesity among Year 6 children in Barking and Dagenham remain a significant concern, with 42.8% of pupils classified as above a healthy weight, according to the latest National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP) data for 2024/25. This figure is higher than both the London and England averages.
The data, presented to the Health & Wellbeing Board and ICB Sub-Committee, revealed that while the percentage of Reception-aged children classified as above a healthy weight has fallen to 23.0% – a rate lower than the national average – the issue persists among older primary school children.
Specifically, 14.1% of Year 6 pupils were found to be overweight, 20.4% very overweight, and 8.4% severely obese. The report also highlighted that boys in both Reception and Year 6 are more likely to be classified as above a healthy weight than girls.
Addressing the Challenge
To tackle these concerning rates, Barking and Dagenham has commissioned a new healthy weight design and delivery partner. This partner will act as an enabler of change, utilising their expertise in community engagement and innovative initiatives to foster a community-driven approach. This will involve designing a whole borough healthy weight plan with partners, establishing new healthy weight pathways, providing digital support, organising healthy weight activities, offering individualised guidance, and ensuring specialist help is available for those unable to access mainstream activities. This initiative is a key component of the borough's It Starts Here: Partnerships for Change
vision, which prioritises School readiness and child obesity
as one of its ten missions, aiming to create a healthier future through collaboration. 1
Contributing Factors and Local Context
Local health authorities identify that Children everywhere in the UK, including Barking and Dagenham, live in an obesogenic society surrounded by things that contribute to bad diet and nutrition or sedentary behaviours.
The report also stresses that Childhood obesity cannot be dealt with in isolation of the family context, so it needs a whole family approach which will be delivered through the healthy weight family support offer.
The NCMP data for 2024/25 also sheds light on the impact of deprivation. While the lowest rate of children measured above a healthy weight was observed in the least deprived decile and the highest in the most deprived, the effect of deprivation is not as pronounced in Barking and Dagenham as it is nationally. This could be due to low sample sizes in some deciles, suggesting that children in the borough experience less of a weight benefit as their level of relative deprivation reduces compared to the national average. 2
Demographic Breakdown
The report provides a breakdown of the 42.8% of Year 6 children classified as above a healthy weight by ethnicity. For the largest groups, Asian children had a rate of 34.3% above a healthy weight, White children 39.2%, Black children 46.2%, and Mixed ethnicity children 42.8% (though this group has a smaller sample size). A detailed breakdown by socioeconomic status is not provided.
While the overall participation rate for the NCMP saw a slight decrease in Year 6 children measured compared to the previous year, the data quality for height and weight measurements showed some improvement. The report noted that the impact of deprivation on children's weight appears less pronounced in Barking and Dagenham compared to national averages, though disparities still exist.
