Why is this National Indicator important?
Maintaining a healthy weight during childhood is important for both physical health and mental wellbeing. While this indicator encompasses both underweight and overweight, currently the wider public health challenge relates to rising levels of obesity and overweight children in Scotland. Being overweight or obese during childhood is a health concern in itself, but when it continues into adulthood it can lead to physical and mental health problems, such as heart disease, diabetes, osteoarthritis, increased risk of certain cancers, low self-esteem and depression.
What will influence this National Indicator?
Obesity develops when calorie intake exceeds energy expenditure. However, this simple picture is affected by a range of complex social and environmental factors that strongly influence individual choices. These include, for example: marketing of energy-dense and high salt foods to children; increases in sedentary behaviour and associated snacking; creation of environments that are safe for walking and play; access to active travel options; and health-promoting schools that support physical activity and healthy eating both within and outwith the curriculum.
What is the Government's role?
To manage childhood obesity, we need to help children increase their physical activity (and consequently their energy expenditure) while reducing their calorie intake. Tackling the environmental, social and behavioral influences, including the family context, is an important part of this. This is reflected in the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) guideline on the management of obesity in children and young people, published in 2003 and currently under revision (SIGN publication No. 69 - Edinburgh: SIGN, 2003). We will publish our Joint Action Plan on Diet, Physical Activity and Health Weight describing what we will do with an additional £40m we have allocated in the Scottish Budget. This includes £6m over the next three years for NHS Health Boards to target a healthy weight intervention to 20,000 children.
How are we performing?
In 2008, more than a third of children (33.6%) were outwith the healthy weight range, an increase from 32.3% in 2003 and from 29.8% in 1998. The rate of increase slowed from an average of 1.7% per annum between 1998 and 2003 to an average of 0.8% per annum between 2003 and 2008.
The increase observed between 2003 and 2008 was entirely due to boys where the proportion outwith the healthy weight range increased from 33.9% to 38.2%. Among girls, the proportion the outwith healthy weight range actually decreased over the five year period - from 30.7% to 28.7%.
Source: Scottish Health Survey
Methodology
If the latest annual percentage change is more than 0.5 percentage point higher than the previous year's annual percentage change the arrow will be "performance worsening". If the latest annual percentage change is more than 0.5 percentage point lower than the previous year's annual percentage change the arrow will be "performance improving". If the latest annual percentage change is within 0.5 percentage point of the previous year's annual percentage change, the arrow will be "performance maintaining". The threshold of 0.5 percentage point chosen is based on an assessment of the data available at this time, and may need to be reviewed as more information becomes available in the future.
For information on general methodological approach, please click h.ere.
Further Information
Scotland Performs Technical Note
Statistics Topic Page
Who are our partners?
NHS Scotland
Local Authorities
Related Strategic Objectives
Healthier
Safer and Stronger
Smarter
Wealthier and Fairer
Greener