North East Pilot BMI study report

This report describes research on the National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP), a national surveillance programme for measuring children’s body mass index (BMI), as part of broader UK public health initiatives to halt the current rise in childhood obesity. The programme was implemented in response to the 2004 Public Service Agreement (PSA) target to halt the year on year rise in obesity amongst children under 11 in England by 2010. All Primary Care Trusts (PCT) in England are now required to measure the height and weight of reception children (aged 4-5) and year 6 children (aged 10-11) in order to inform local planning and targeting of resources and interventions and to enable tracking of local progress against the PSA target (Department of Health 2006).

• Obesity