Health Survey for England, 2024

This report examines the prevalence of overweight and obesity among children in 2024. 

Detailed tables accompanying this report can be accessed here. 

• Among children aged 2 to 15, 15% were living with obesity. 26% were either overweight or living with obesity. It is likely that in 2024, the proportion of children living with obesity was between 12.6% and 17.7% (the 95% confidence interval). The proportion of children who were overweight or living with obesity is likely to have been between 22.8% and 29.6%.
• Obesity prevalence increased with age, from 10% of those aged 2 to 4, to 17% of those aged 13 to 15. Similarly, overweight including obesity increased with age, from 19% of those aged 2 to 4 to 28% of those aged 13 to 15.
• Prevalence of overweight and obesity among children varied by level of area deprivation, with a more pronounced pattern for older children aged 11 to 15. In the least deprived areas, 8% of children aged 11 to 15 years were living with obesity, compared with 30% in the most deprived areas.
• Prevalence of obesity in children was also associated with parental BMI category. 8% of children whose mother was a healthy weight or underweight were living with obesity compared with 20% of children whose mother was overweight or living with obesity. 9% of children whose father was a healthy weight or underweight were living with obesity compared with 17% of children whose father was overweight or living with obesity.

Overweight and obesity in childhood are associated with an increased risk of overweight and obesity in adulthood, and earlier onset of non-communicable diseases such as Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases (Source: World Health Organization, 2025). A meta-analysis found that 55% of children who were living with obesity continued to do so into adolescence. 80% of adolescents who were living with obesity also experienced obesity as adults (Source: Simmonds et al. 2016). Obesity also causes health problems in childhood, being a risk factor for Type 2 diabetes, dyslipidaemia, asthma and other conditions and socio-emotional consequences (Source: Sahoo et al. 2015). 

A universal categorisation cannot be used to define childhood overweight and obesity prevalence because boys and girls have different growth patterns at each age. Overweight and obesity prevalence for children aged 2 to 15 is therefore estimated using age, categorised in six-month bands, and the sex-specific UK National BMI centiles classification (Source: Cole, TJ. 1990). This classification gives the BMI threshold separately for boys and girls for each age above which a child is considered overweight or obese. The classification estimates were produced by calculating the proportion of boys and girls who were at or above the 85th (overweight) or 95th (obese) BMI centiles of the 1990 reference population. The proportion below these thresholds were classified as healthy weight or underweight. The healthy weight and underweight groups are combined due to low base sizes in the underweight group.

Note that for some of the analysis undertaken the number of children in each group was very small. This limits the ability to detect differences between subgroups and makes it difficult to determine whether any observed differences were real or due to chance.

Assessment of a child’s weight category compares the actual BMI with BMI centiles on published growth charts, using sex and age in six-month bands (extracted from the date of interview minus the date of birth). Presentation of the results is based on the age at last birthday, which is the Health Survey for England (HSE) standard.

In HSE 2024, height and weight were measured during the interviewer visit. Infants (aged 0 to 1) were first included in the survey in 2001, with the weight of infants aged 6 weeks or older being measured.

In 2024, boys and girls aged 2 to 4 were a similar height (99cm). Average height increased with age at different rates for boys and girls, and among children aged 13 to 15 boys were, on average, taller than girls (168.1cm compared with 160.9cm).

Among boys, average weight increased from 9.8kg at age 0 to 1, to 60.2kg among those aged 13 to 15. Among girls, weight increased from 8.9kg at age 0 to 1, to 55.6kg among those aged 13 to 15. Again, the pattern by age differed between boys and girls. Among boys, the largest increase was between age groups 11 to 12 and 13 to 15, where mean weight increased from 44.5kg to 60.2kg, while for girls the largest increase was between age groups 8 to 10 and 11 to 12 – an increase in mean weight from 33.3kg to 49.4kg.

Trends in children’s height are shown in Table 14 for the period 1995 to 2019, 2022 and 2024, based on children aged 2 to 15. Trends in children’s weight are shown in Table 15 for the period 1995 to 2000, based on children aged 2 to 15, and from 2001 to 2019, 2022 and 2024, based on children aged 0 to 15.

For more information: Table 14 and Table 15

In 2024, 15% of children aged 2 to 15 were living with obesity, and 26% were overweight or living with obesity. Differences between boys and girls were not statistically significant. Survey estimates are subject to a margin of error (see ‘About the survey estimates’ in the Introduction). As such, it is likely that in 2024, the proportion of children living with obesity was between 12.6% and 17.7% (the 95% confidence interval). The proportion of children who were overweight or living with obesity is likely to have been between 22.8% and 29.6%.

Obesity prevalence increased with age, from between 9% and 10% of those aged 2 to 7, to 21% of those aged 11 to 12, and 17% of those aged 13 to 15. Similarly, overweight including obesity increased with age, from between 19% and 20% among those aged 2 to 7 to 36% among those aged 11 to 12, and 28% among those aged 13 to 15.

For more information: Table 16, Table 17 and Table A2

Obesity prevalence in children aged 2 to 15 increased from 12% in 1995 to 19% in 2004, before declining to 16% in 2008 and remaining between 14% and 17% since that time. Throughout the period, obesity prevalence was generally higher among children aged 11 to 15 than among children aged 2 to 10.

Overweight (including obesity) followed a similar pattern, increasing from 25% in 1995 to 34% by 2004, and decreasing slightly after that. Overweight (including obesity) remained between 28% and 31% from 2006 to 2019, and was 26% in 2024: this was not a statistically significant change from 2022.

For more information: Table 16 and Table A2

The prevalence of childhood obesity varied by area deprivation among those aged 11 to 15. 8% of children aged 11 to 15 in the least deprived quintile were living with obesity, compared with 30% in the most deprived quintile. Among children aged 2 to 10 there was no statistically significant association between prevalence of obesity and area deprivation.

For more information: Table 18

To establish the BMI category of a child’s parents or guardians, data for adults who took part in the HSE interview was linked to their children’s data if they were the legal parent or guardian of the child and lived in the same household. Due to small base sizes in the underweight group, the healthy weight and underweight groups were combined for this analysis.

A higher prevalence of overweight and obesity was found among children with (legal, cohabiting) parents or guardians who were overweight or living with obesity

Among children whose mother was healthy weight or underweight:

• 8% were living with obesity
• 14% were overweight or living with obesity

Among children whose mother was overweight or living with obesity:

• 20% were living with obesity
• 34% were overweight or living with obesity

Among children whose father was a healthy weight or underweight:

• 9% were living with obesity
• 18% were overweight or living with obesity

Among children whose father was overweight or living with obesity:

• 17% were living with obesity
• 28% were overweight or living with obesity.

For more information: Table 19 and Table 20