Merton Council urged to become London's first Healthy Weight Borough amid concerning childhood obesity rise

At its meeting on 18 September, Merton Council was urged to become London's first 'Healthy Weight Borough' following a concerning rise in childhood obesity.

In one year, the Labour-run Borough has seen an 8 percent increase in the number of 4-5-year-olds who are overweight or obese.

The data, from Public Health England, also reveals that almost 4 in 10 children in Merton are an overweight by the time they reach Year 6. Of those, 23 percent are obese or severely obese.
Further analysis estimates that there are 10,700 overweight or obese primary school children in Merton, and a further 600 children who are underweight.

Local Liberal Democrats have proposed making the Merton the first London Borough to sign the Local Authority Declaration on Healthy Weight.
The Healthy Weight Declaration, formed by Food Active, is formed of 16 commitments for action that ensure all Council departments work to reduce unhealthy weight in local communities.

The commitments include engaging with the food and drink sector about appropriate retailing, protecting children from inappropriate marketing, and increasing public access to fresh drinking water.
It has been signed by over 30 local authorities, including Liberal Democrat, Labour, and Conservative councils, but all of them have been outside London.

Commenting, Cllr Samantha MacArthur, Liberal Democrat lead for children and young people, said:

"If Labour councillors had backed our proposal to become London's first Healthy Weight Borough, we could have adopted these 16 valuable commitments and set a new standard for local authorities across London.

"It is deeply worrying that the number of overweight children in Reception has increased by 8 percent just twelve months and we need a cross-department commitment within the Council to turn the tide.

"We proposed this action due to the real issues that exist around children's healthy weight and the negative impact that being overweight and living with obesity can have on their life outcomes and particularly for children living in deprivation.

"Sadly Labour Council bosses told their councillors to vote to block this proposal, proving that they don't have the ambition to run a Council which acts to help our young people."

NOTES:

Reception prevalence of overweight (including obesity) (4-5 years)

Source: Public Health England Obesity Profile

Year 6 prevalence of unhealthy weight (10-11 years) (2022-23)

Source: Public Health England Obesity Profile

Analysis of Primary School Weight

The National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP) only provides weight data at two time points, Reception and Year 6.

A report to Merton Council's Children and Young People's Overview and Scrutiny Panel extrapolated the data to estimate the number of Merton children aged between 4 and 18 in each weight category (page 3).

Council Motion

The text of the Liberal Democrats' council motion is as follows:

"Council requests that Cabinet consider adopting Food Active's Local Authority Declaration on Healthy Weight (HWD)."