THESE six facts have revealed some concerning truths about obesity among Wirral’s children.

They have been uncovered as the council looks to take a system-wide approach to tackling the problem by incorporating different departments such as planning, transport, environment and healthcare.

The report to be discussed by councillors at next week’s children and families overview and scrutiny committee outlined the work being done to tackle growing trends in obesity, and revealed these six concerning facts, which mostly concern children.

1. More than half (53.9%) of women giving birth in Wirral are classed as either overweight or obese, compared to just over one in three nationally.

2. 70% of primary schools in Birkenhead are higher than the national average for the proportion of reception-age children classified as ‘very overweight’.

3. Some schools in Birkenhead have one in four pupils that are ‘very overweight’, compared to one in 10 nationally.

4. One in 10 reception-age children are classified as ‘very overweight’ (or obese), which means that they are more overweight than 95% of their peers.

5. One in four reception-age children in Wirral are currently overweight or obese. The report said this was slightly higher than the national average, but has decreased slightly in the most recent year for which data is available.

6. 80% of obese children in Wirral will become obese adults.

Despite that, the report also revealed what positive work has been done.

That included the Eat Well Wirral scheme, which has supported fast food takeaways to improve overall healthiness on offer, something 145 businesses have signed up to. That means making changes like using different cooking oils, fewer additives and increasing fruit and vegetables on the menu.

A total of 24% of the borough’s takeaways are located within 400m of secondary schools and further education institutes. The report also said that meant the challenge for the council’s planning officers is to prove any new takeaway would be “detrimental to public health”, to the extent that refusing planning permission can be justified.

It added: “If the action outlined in this report does not progress it is highly likely that the trends, we are observing in increasing levels of people who are overweight and obese will continue.”