| Information component |
Pg 4 Health Summary – Indicator No 9 |
| Subject category / domain(s) |
Giving children and young people a healthy start |
| Indicator name (* Indicator title in health profile) |
Prevalence of obesity in year 1 and year 6 pupils (*Obese children) |
| PHO with lead responsibility |
SEPHO |
| Date of PHO dataset creation |
Not Applicable – Gap Indicator |
| Indicator definition |
Not decided |
| Geography |
Not applicable – gap indicator |
| Timeliness |
Annual – will be available for 2008 |
|
Rationale:What this indicator purports to measure
|
Estimate of prevalence of obesity in children under 11 |
|
Rationale:Public Health Importance
|
The UK is experiencing an epidemic of obesity affecting both adults and children. Among boys and girls aged 2 to 15, the proportion who were obese increased from 10.9 per cent in 1995 to 18.0 per cent in 2005 among boys, and from 12.0 per cent to 18.1 per cent among girls. For those aged 2 to 10, the increase over the same period was from 9.6 per cent to 16.6 per cent for boys and 10.3 per cent to 16.7 per cent for girls. (seehttp://www.ic.nhs.uk/statistics-and-data-collections/health-and-lifestyles/obesity/statistics-on-obesity-physical-activity-and-diet-england-2006)There is concern about the rise of childhood obesity and the implications of such obesity persisting into adulthood. The health consequences of childhood obesity include: increased blood lipids, glucose intolerance, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, increases in liver enzymes associated with fatty liver, psychological problems – social isolation, low self-esteem, teasing and bullying, exacerbation of conditions such as asthma. The National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence has produced guidelines to tackle obesity in adults in children – Obesity: the prevention, identification, assessment and management of overweight and obesity in adults and children. Available athttp://guidance.nice.org.uk/CG43/guidance |
| Rationale: Purpose behind the inclusion of the indicator |
Reason for wanting to include this indicator:Although prevalence of obesity in year 1 and year 6 school children are proxies for prevalence in children under 11, such an indicator of childhood obesity would be useful to help monitor the prevalence of childhood obesity, inform planning and ensure the proper targeting of resources to tackle obesity. |
|
Rationale:Reason for Gap
|
Reason for this indicator not being included:In order to assist monitoring of childhood obesity annual measurement of height and weight among primary school children in Reception Year and Year 6 was introduced in 2005-06 and the National Childhood Obesity Database (NCOD) established. The measurement of children was co-ordinated by Primary Care Trusts and the height and weight of in excess of 500,000 children across England was entered onto the UNIFY system.Due to some issues experienced in the first year, the 2005-06 dataset is inconsistent across regions. Consequently comparison of patterns of BMI at a local level across regions is unlikely to be robust. For this reason the indicator is shown as a gap for the 2007 health profiles.It is hoped that lessons learned from 2005-06 data collection will lead to improvements in the arrangements for the coming year allowing this gap to be filled next year.Further information relating to Childhood Height and Weight can be found in the following reports:Obesity among Children Under 11 (http://www.dh.gov.uk/assetRoot/04/10/94/10/04109410.pdf)Analysis of the National Childhood Obesity Database 2005-06 (http://www.dh.gov.uk/assetRoot/04/14/21/56/04142156.pdf) |
|
Rationale:Policy relevance
|
Childhood obesity is the subject of a Public Service Agreement (PSA) target set in July 2004 which aims to halt the year-on-year rise in obesity among children under 11 by 2010 in England. |
| Interpretation: What a high / low level of indicator value means |
Not applicable – gap indicator |
| Interpretation: Potential for error due to type of measurement method |
Not applicable – gap indicator |
| Interpretation: Potential for error due to bias and confounding |
Not applicable – gap indicator |
| Confidence Intervals: Definition and purpose |
Not applicable – gap indicator |
