Scotland: Over a third of P1 pupils in poorest areas at risk of being overweight or obese

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.

It comes after new figures showed 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.

In 2020-21, almost three out of 10 (29.5%) P1 children were found to be at risk of either being overweight or obese – up from 22.7% of youngsters the previous year.

Overall the research, published by Public Health Scotland, found 69.8% of P1 children had a healthy weight, while 0.8% were at risk of being underweight.

While fewer children had their height and weight checked in 2020-21 compared to the previous year – with 37% of Primary 1 children measured, compared to more than 70% 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% of P1 pupils in the most deprived areas were at risk of being either overweight or obese – a rise of 8.4 points on the previous year.

Meanwhile in the least deprived areas, 20.8% of P1 youngsters were at risk of being overweight or obese, with this up by 3.6% on 2019-20.

Just over a fifth (21.1%) of P1 children in the most deprived areas were at risk of obesity, according to the data, compared to 8.4% of their counterparts in the least deprived areas.

Across Scotland as a whole, P1 boys were slightly less likely than girls to have a healthy weight, the report found.

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 by 2030.

A Scottish Government spokesman said: “We want Scotland to be the best place in the world for a child to grow up.

“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.”