Kids in Dumfries and Galloway are among the fattest in Scotland.
A new report reveals more than a quarter of kids in primary one are at risk of being overweight or obese – higher than the national average.
Public Health Scotland produced the figures using each child’s body mass index (BMI) – calculated by dividing their weight by a figure reached by squaring their height.
The report says BMI is used as it is “accepted as a reasonably robust measure of an individual’s level of body fat for children aged over two years”.
Measurements from 2,382 kids in Dumfries and Galloway were used. Of them, 1.693 – 71.1 per cent – had a healthy weight. The national average was 74.7 per cent.
Seventeen youngsters were at risk of being underweight.
But 315 were at risk of being overweight and a further 357 at risk of being obese.
The combined total of 672 represented 28.2 per cent of youngsters, with the national proportion 24.1 per cent.
The report stated: “Monitoring healthy weight across the child population is a way of seeing how well the needs of children are being met.
“The wellbeing of all children can be improved by ensuring good food is affordable and accessible, and by making sure they are able to be active and play freely and safely.
“Maintaining a healthy weight throughout childhood is associated with many health benefits.”
NHS Dumfries and Galloway’s director of public health, Valerie White, said: “We know that unhealthy influences in our environment are overwhelming children and families - from the cost of living crisis and having access to nutritious food, to the impact of social media on body image and self-esteem.
“We can act now to support the health and wellbeing of children in Dumfries and Galloway and work together to create environments which nurture our children’s health and wellbeing.
“We need people to spread the word about what support is available.
“This is a key priority for our health visiting teams and locally we promote the Grow Well in D&G App which provides lots of advice and support on healthy eating, weaning and activity, and in 2023 this will be expanded to include school-age resources and link to cost of living support.
“We also have our Healthy Child Service which has been established to provide a family-centred programme, where their needs, hopes and goals are placed at the centre of support.
“We continue to focus on the wellbeing of the children in Dumfries and Galloway, and want our communities to be aware of these resources which are intended to support the continued health and wellbeing of our child
