New data highlights rising cases of undernutrition and falling height of children

What today's National Child Measurement Programme data says about efforts to improve child health, by Food Foundation Policy and Advocacy Manager Shona Goudie

Government statistics released today highlight the glaring disparities between the most well off and the poorest children in England.

Findings from the National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP) measure the height and weight of children in reception and year 6 in state schools show rising levels of obesity and worrying signs of undernutrition.

Reacting to the findings, Food Foundation Policy and Advocacy Manager Shona Goudie said: "Once again, the government’s annual data reveals a complete lack of meaningful progress in reducing shockingly high child obesity levels in England, with glaring disparities between the most well off and the poorest children persisting.

"The government’s Child Poverty Taskforce must look at addressing the root cause of these disparities by removing the barriers faced by many families which leave them unable to afford healthy food and depending on cheaper, highly processed options.

"In parallel, there are worrying signs of undernutrition. On the one hand underweight levels in Year 6 children have risen for the third consecutive year, reaching the highest rate since the measurement programme began, and on the other hand, we see that by age five, on average, children in the UK are shorter than those in nearly all other high-income countries.

"Although the Government’s pledge to create "the healthiest generation of children ever" was initially encouraging, the recent autumn budget failed to provide any significant funding towards improving children’s health.

"Investing in improving children’s health must be an urgent priority to give them the opportunity to reach their full potential, prevent future unsustainable pressure on the NHS and strengthen the economy.

"To combat childhood obesity and undernutrition, the government must strengthen nutritional safety net programmes such as Free School Meals and Healthy Start, and increase family incomes by setting levels of social security payments and the national living wage to cover the cost of a healthy diet in order to ensure that all children in this country have the chance to grow up healthy and well-nourished."