Childhood health in North Somerset

News - 21 October 2015

A new report commissioned by the National Children’s Bureau has found that North Somerset has the highest percentage of obese children out of the South West region’s 15 local authorities.
Mum sitting on a park bench with her twins on her lap

North Somerset also has the third highest percentage of five-year-olds suffering from poor dental health.

According to the report, some 23% of North Somerset’s four and five-year-olds have tooth decay, while more than 10% of children in this age group are obese.

Anna Feuchtwang the chief executive of the National Children’s Bureau, said:

“It is shocking that two children growing up Page 3 Local Information in neighbouring areas can expect such a wildly different quality of health.”

In a statement issued to the North Somerset Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), the authority said:

“The council will take on responsibility for young children’s public health services from NHS England on October 1. This creates a greater opportunity to look at the services we provide locally to improve young children’s health”.

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