CHILDHOOD OBESITY

Childhood Obesity in Barking and Dagenham

Childhood Obesity in Barking and Dagenham

1 Analyse the basis on which the “health need” was identified in barking and Dagenham

Barking and Dagenham is a borough with high levels of relative deprivation. Associated with this are comparatively high levels of ill health(Evans 2011, pp. 105-109). There are two accepted measures of health inequality used in England, life expectancy from birth and infant mortality. Life expectancy is worse and infant mortality is higher than the average for England. Many adults are unemployed or on long term sickness bene?ts, and for those adults who are in work, many are in low paid jobs. There have been improvements in the health of the population in the last 20 years(Justin 2012, pp. 133-139). Life expectancy from birth has increased, and mortality rates have decreased, however, these improvements have not kept pace with the health improvements made in England as a whole. It will be dif?cult to get a more accurate picture of the population until information from the 2011 census is released. The London Borough of Barking and Dagenham carried out a community mapping exercise in 2010 which gives a new estimate of the population and also characteristics of the population such as the breakdown by ethnicity(Huang & Horlick, 2013, pp. 151-158). The community mapping exercise uses Local Authority administration datasets such as school roll and bene?ts information to produce information which is more current than projections from the 2001 census. Currently the population estimates from the Of?ce of National Statistics (ONS) and Greater London Authority (GLA) differ from each other, and both differ from the Council's own population estimates. There is a difference of 8,547 between the highest and lowest total populations across the three estimates, with greatest disparities being seen in the population aged between 0 - 9 years(Reilly 2012, pp. 205-209). More information about the demographic changes and their impact can be found in the 2011 JSNA.

Almost a third of the population of Barking and Dagenham are under the age of 20, and this proportion is growing. The population is very diverse; nearly 47% of school children are from a black or minority ethnic group and 41% of children are living in poverty.

The health of children is generally worse than the England average, but is better

than average on some indicators. (Nauta, Byrne & Wesley 2009 , pp. 181-186)

Children in the borough have higher than average levels of obesity. 14% of children

in reception year and 24% of children in year 6 are at risk of obesity. The level of immunisation against measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) is lower than average. The teenage conception rate is higher than average. There are 61 conceptions per 1,000 girls aged 15-17(Shepherd 2009, pp. 188-190). Despite this picture, a larger percentage of school children are participating in at least two hours of sport a week.

The need to tackle the growing burden of childhood obesity is a national priority for the Department of ...