SUMMARY

• Update of annual statistics on high and low body mass index (BMI) for Primary 1 school children in 8 participating NHS Boards.  The current release includes data to school year 2005/06.
• Using the 1990 UK growth reference standard, in 2005/06 21.8% of children in Primary 1 were overweight, including 9.1% who were obese and 4.4% severely obese. 
• Figures for 2005/06 are broadly similar to 2004/05 (21.5% overweight, including 9.0% obese and 4.3% severely obese) and 2003/04 (21.8% , 9.0%, 4.6% respectively).  Levels of obesity have increased from 2000/01 (19.7% , 8.0%, 3.9% respectively).

INTRODUCTION:
 
The World Health Organisation has acknowledged that obesity is sweeping the world and is a major public health problem.  Of particular concern is the increasing incidence of child obesity.  Being overweight or obese during childhood is a health concern in itself, but can also lead to physical and mental health problems in later life, such as heart disease, diabetes, osteoarthritis, back pain, low self-esteem and depression.
 
All NHS Boards in Scotland provide a Child Health Surveillance Programme where children are offered routine reviews at various stages of their life. The majority of Boards record these reviews using the Child Health Systems Project (CHSP). This release updates statistics on high and low body mass index (BMI) for Primary 1 school children from height and weight measurements collected at routine health reviews through the CHSP-School.  BMI assesses whether weight is in proportion to height and therefore gives an indication of body fatness or thinness.  As CHSP-School is implemented in the majority of NHS Boards, the data can be used to estimate prevalence of over and under weight children in Scotland.  The current release includes data to school year 2005/06. 
 
Previously published data on these webpages also include BMI statistics from routine health reviews for pre-school children aged approximately 3.5 years old (from the 39-42 month health review),  and school children in Primary 7 and Secondary 3.  A revised programme of child health surveillance is currently being implemented across Scotland following the recommendations published in the report Health For All Children 4 (Hall4): Guidance on Implementation in Scotland.  Under the revised core surveillance programme the reviews at 39-42 months, Primary 7 and Secondary 3 will no longer routinely take place.  Consequently the latest available BMI data for children aged around 3.5 years old are for those born in 2001 and the latest available figures for children in Primary 7 and Secondary 3 are for school year 2004/05.  In future a survey of BMI for children in Primary 7 will take place every 3 years for public health monitoring purposes. BMI measurement will continue to be routine for all children during Primary 1.
 
These statistics are based on the 1990 UK reference standards.  These growth reference charts are based on data collected between 1978 and 1990 from UK surveys. They therefore represent children’s BMI before the recent rise in levels of obesity in children. Cut-off points based on these studies define overweight as children whose BMI is in the top 15% of the reference range for their age and sex. Obese and severely obese are defined as children whose BMI is in the top 5% and 2% of the reference range respectively.
 

KEY POINTS:

1. Using the 1990 UK growth reference standard, in 2005/06 21.8% of children in Primary 1 were overweight, including 9.1% who were obese and 4.4% severely obese. 
2. Figures for 2005/06 are broadly similar to 2004/05 (21.5% overweight, including 9.0% obese and 4.3% severely obese) and 2003/04 (21.8% , 9.0%, 4.6% respectively).  Levels of obesity have increased from 2000/01 (19.7% , 8.0%, 3.9% respectively).
3. Levels of high BMI amongst boys tend to be slightly higher than for girls in Primary 1.  In school year 2005/06, 23.0% of boys were overweight (including 9.7% obese and 4.7% severely obese) compared with 20.7% of girls (including 8.5% obese and 4.2% severely obese).
4. The proportion of Primary 1 school children with low BMI was 2.9% in 2005/06, which is lower than the 1990 UK reference standard of 5%.
5. The release includes data by participating NHS Board, gender and deprivation. Trend data are available from 2000/01.

CONCLUSION:
 
Figures for 2005/06 show that levels of obesity in Primary 1 children continue to be a cause for concern. However the levels appear to have stabilised over the last three years following increases in 2000/01 and 2001/02. These figures are derived from data provided by eight NHS Boards.

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Notes:  The previous childhood obesity publication (December 2005) presented statistics on pre-school aged children (at the 39-42 months review) and school aged children (at Primary 1, Primary 7 and Secondary 3). Due to recommendations for changes in child health surveillance, routine health checks at 39-42 months, Primary 7 and Secondary 3 are being phased out and therefore obesity data is not available for children of these ages in this release. 

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MAIN CONTACTS:

Dr Jim Chalmers (Consultant in Public Health Medicine)
Head of Programme
Women & Children's Health Information Programme
Tel: 0131 275 6136
Jim.Chalmers@isd.csa.scot.nhs.uk
 
Anne Leigh-Brown
Programme Principal
Women & Children's Health Information Programme
Tel: 0131 275 6481
Anne.Leigh-Brown@isd.csa.scot.nhs.uk
 
Judith Tait
Child Health Information Team Leader
Tel: 0131 275 6833
Judith.Tait@isd.csa.scot.nhs.uk
 

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PRE-RELEASE ACCESS TO THIS PUBLICATION WAS GIVEN TO:

Scottish Executive Health Department, Directors of Public Health, Chairs of the Child Health Surveillance Programme National User Groups, NHS Board Chief Executives



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GLOSSARY:

BMI: Body Mass Index
 
CHSP-PS: Child Health Systems Project - Pre-School
 
CHSP-S: Child Helath Systems Project - School
 
Hall4: Health For All Children 4 - Guidance on Implementation in Scotland


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HISTORY OF THIS PUBLICATION:

Last Published: 12/12/2005    -    Next Due: December 2007     -      Data Available Since: Children born in 1995 for statistics for pre-school children aged approximately 3.5 years old, and school year 2000/01 for children in Primary 1, Primary 7 and Secondary 3


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KEY WORDS:

BMI, body mass index, obesity , obese, overweight, undernutrition.

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OTHER PUBLICATIONS,NEWSLETTERS OR EVENTS ORIGINATING FROM THIS DEPARTMENT OR PROGRAMME:

Child Health Information Team Newsletter (2 to 4 times a year)
Breastfeeding statistics (annually in May)
Childhood Immunisation statistics (quarterly in March, June, September and December)
Support Needs System summary statistics (annually in December)
Childhood Hospital Admissions and Mortality (annually in December)

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