Skip to content

Worrying number of slim children dieting

Getty Images Girl looking at a plate of biscuitsGetty Images

More than one in every four children in England are dieting, including some who are a healthy weight and as young as eight, research suggests.

Dieting can be risky and harmful.

But a survey of more than 34,000 children and teenagers, published in Archives of Disease in Childhood, shows the proportion trying to slim rose from 21% in 1997 to nearly 27% in 2016.

Child obesity has also been increasing but at a slower rate - and one in seven slim children is also now dieting.

The rise was from:

  • 9% to 39.3% among those who were overweight
  • 32.9% to 62.6% for those who were obese
  • 5.3% to 13.6% for those who were slim

Older teens are more likely to diet than younger children - and girls more than boys, although the gender gap appears to be closing.

Study author and dietician Melissa Little, from Oxford University, said: "We have been seeing a rise in boys dieting - it's not just girls doing it.

"While some of the teenagers and children who are dieting are overweight, some are not.

"We've really got to think about getting the right health messaging across."

'Particularly concerning'

Unsupervised dieting could be dangerous, she added.

There was a marked increase in weight-loss attempts from 2011-12 onwards.

The National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP) began weighing and measuring pupils in Reception and Year 6 in 2006/07.

Parents began receiving feedback on their child's data in 2008/09.

Feedback may have prompted some to seek help, the researchers says, but some children or families may have been trying to lose weight without appropriate support or guidance.

University of Reading School of Psychology associate professor Dr Paul Jenkins said: "The apparent increase in the numbers of children expressing a desire to lose weight in those who could be considered to be at a 'healthy' weight for their age is particularly concerning."

Latest data from the NCMP suggest obesity rates in primary school children have dropped in 2021/22 after reaching the highest recorded levels the previous academic year.

Around 10% of four and five-year-olds in reception classes in England were recorded as obese, down from 14% the year before.

The 2021/22 figure for pupils aged 10 and 11 in year six was 24% - a drop of 2% on the previous year.