The Children’s Health in Northern Ireland 2023/24 report breaks down indicators such as birth weight, maternal BMI, maternal smoking, breastfeeding status, childhood obesity by various geographies and by deprivation status.
Findings show:
- Northern Ireland has the highest level of obesity in Primary 1 children in United Kingdom in 2023/24, with 25.3% of children in Northern Ireland measured in Primary 1 were considered overweight or obese. This compares to 22.1% in England and 22.3% in Scotland. At time of publication, data for 2023/24 for Wales was not available, however the equivalent figure for 2022/23 was 24.8%.
- In 2023/24, over a quarter of children in Year 8 were measured as overweight/obese (27%). 21% of children were measured as overweight, 6% obese. Unfortunately, this figure has not improved much since 2010/11 – fluctuating between 26.4% and 28.2% across these years.
- A higher proportion of children living in the most deprived areas of Northern Ireland were measured as overweight/obese (32.3%), compared to 22.0% of children from the least deprived areas.
- The proportion breastfeeding is markedly lower in more deprived areas - 40.6% of mothers from the most deprived areas were breastfeeding at discharge, compared to 68.4% of mothers from the least deprived areas
- The proportion of low-birth-weight infants born to mothers residing in the most deprived areas of Northern Ireland in 2023/24 was higher at 7.4%, compared to mothers from least deprived areas (5.2%)
RCPCH Officer for Ireland, Dr Thomas Bourke, said:
It’s useful to see the recent publication of the Public Health Agency’s report on child health in Northern Ireland which once again highlights worrying trends. It is shocking that our P1 children have the highest rate of childhood obesity in the UK.
With almost one in four children in Northern Ireland living in poverty it is even more distressing that these data show that that children from deprived areas are at greatest risk. Those born in areas of social deprivation are more likely to have low birth weight, lower breast-feeding rates and higher overweight/obesity.
A true marker of a thriving society is the health and wellbeing of our children. By these metrics, Northern Ireland continues to fall short. The RCPCH once again calls on our political leaders to publish the long-awaited Northern Ireland Anti-Poverty Strategy and carry out a full review of the child health system in the nation, while ensuring the Regional Integrated Care System places the needs of children at the fore front.