According to the latest data from the National Child Measurement programme for England, the percentage of obese Reception children has fallen from 10.1 per cent in 2021/22 to 9.2 per cent in 2022/23.
The NHS says the proportion of children classed as obese is now falling back towards pre-pandemic levels.
Four- and five-year-olds in the most deprived areas were more than twice as likely to be obese than those in the least deprived areas, a findings which Dr Mike McKean, vice president of the Royal College for Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH), called ‘unacceptable’.
The percentage of obese children in Year 6 has also fallen, however one in four children are still obese by the time they leave primary school, according to the data.
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