Quarter of children starting primary school have weight problems

One in four children begin primary school with a serious weight problem. That's the astonishing figure being published this week by a Department of Health nationwide study into children's weight. Ten primary care trusts have released their figures for the survey showing that a quarter of all children starting in reception are obese.

The problems persist through primary school with a third of all children in some areas of the country starting secondary school overweight. Apparently the Isle of Wight has the biggest problem with childhood obesity – 30 per cent of children starting primary school there are overweight. Exeter performed best out of the trusts who had published their stats – with a figure of 20 per cent of primary school starters being overweight.

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