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Childhood obesity
16/12/2008
Childhood obesity statistics have been published today.
They update on high and low body mass index (BMI) for Primary 1 school children in 10 participating NHS Boards in Scotland.
They show that in school year 2007-08, 20 per cent of Primary 1 children were classified as overweight, including 7.9 per cent obese and 3.9 per cent severely obese.
Public Health Minister Shona Robison said:
"These statistics indicate the sheer scale of the problem, but there are encouraging signs that fewer children are now becoming overweight.
"The challenge now is to maintain this progress by supporting families to lead healthy lifestyles.
"A record investment of £56 million is being made available by the Scottish Government to do just that and, over the next three years, we expect 20,000 overweight and obese children to benefit from NHS programmes to address behaviour change.
"We are also making sure that every school child can learn healthy eating habits by introducing free school meals, a travelling Cooking Bus teaching healthy cooking skills and banning the sale of high sugar fizzy drinks in Scottish schools."