Oxford News
British children are growing taller but not for the right reasons
Being overweight or obese causes hormonal changes, which accelerate children’s development. Obese children grow faster, so they tend to be taller than their healthy-weight peers. But obese children have a greater risk of disease in later life, including diabetes and heart disease.
Drawing on data obtained via Freedom of Information requests and official statistics, the researchers examined trends in child height and obesity up to the 2023/24 school year. Child obesity rates have increased in deprived areas, but decreased in more affluent areas, reflecting widening socioeconomic inequalities. Meanwhile, inequalities in height have reduced: poorer children still tend to be shorter than their wealthier peers, but the gap is narrowing. Children in poorer areas are getting taller on average and the researchers suggest this is because of their increasing rates of obesity.
In England’s most deprived areas, the average height of 11-year-old boys increased by 1.7cm from 144.4cm to 146.1cm in the fourteen years between 2009/10 to 2023/24. The proportion of these children who were overweight or obese increased from 37.7% to 43.3% in the same period.
‘It might look like a simple good news story, as on average children in Britain are getting taller,’ says GP and researcher Andrew Moscrop of Oxford’s Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences. ‘But in fact it’s a complex bad news story, because this trend is mostly due to height changes among poorer children, and these are being driven by increases in obesity prevalence, which are themselves driven by unfair determinants of health.
‘Children in poorer areas are exposed to more unhealthy food outlets and fewer healthy food sources, while they have less access to outdoor spaces and safe streets for exercise. Additionally, the children’s services that were intended and demonstrated to support children’s healthy weight have been cut back, with deeper cuts in deprived areas.
‘Addressing these issues demands eradicating child poverty and reducing inequalities, while also addressing the environments our children grow up in.’
A sudden increase in average child height occurred among all children during the COVID-19 pandemic, alongside a sudden rise in obesity prevalence, due to the reduced opportunities for outdoor exercise and less healthy eating patterns. Among girls aged 11 in England, average height jumped from 146.6cm to 148.0 between school years 2019/20 and 2020/21, while prevalence of overweight and obesity among this age group increased in the same period from 35.2 to 40.9%.
Focus on child height intensified after reports in 2023 claimed British children were ‘shrinking’. These media reports prompted a government statement in January 2024 asserting that data ‘demonstrated growth.’ The researchers say the data suggesting children were ‘shrinking’ was inaccurate, while the government statement was misleading because they quoted data from the COVID-related height increase.
Child Measurement Programmes routinely measure the height and weight of every child during their first year of state education in Britain. In England, approximately 600,000 children aged 4-5 are measured annually, while smaller numbers are measured in Scotland (50,000 to 55,000) and Wales (30,000 to 35,000). Children in England are also measured aged 10-11, in their final year of primary education.
The authors of the paper are GP and researcher Andrew Moscrop of Oxford’s Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, Danny Dorling, Professor of Human Geography at the University of Oxford, and Tim Cole, Emeritus professor of medical statistics, UCL.
The paper, ‘‘British children are not shrinking’, but child height is increasing for the wrong reasons: trends and inequalities in child measurement programme data for England, Scotland and Wales’, is published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.
Oxford News
Katy Perry forced to cancel gig ahead of Blenheim Festival
The 41-year-old pop icon was due to perform at Werchter Boutique festival in Belgium last night, Saturday, June 28, when the event was unexpectedly cut short.
The festival’s committee decided to end the day’s performances early, at 9pm just after a set from Pitbull, due to a weather forecast of ‘severe thunderstorms from midnight onwards at the earliest’ and a government warning.
READ MORE: Jeremy Clarkson’s pub staff ‘walk out after many problems’
Perry wrote on Instagram: “Sadly my set at Werchter Boutique tonight can’t happen due to a government mandated cancellation because of the incoming inclement weather and crowd safety concerns.
“I was backstage at the show in the middle of hair and makeup when this news was delivered, and they gave me no choice.
“I am just as unhappy as you are. Unfortunately this is beyond my control, but the safety of all 55,000 of you always comes first and foremost.”
The performance was due to mark the popstar’s return to the one-day event held in Belgium’s Festivalpark for the first time in more than 15 years.
READ MORE: Sara Cox in new venture as UK charity collapses with £430k owed
Perry added: “I am sorry I can’t change the weather, and even sorrier that all of us can’t be together tonight. I was looking forward to being back after 17 years, I was even gonna wear the same outfit from that 2009 show again. I love you all, and please get home safe.”
It comes just a week before the star’s next scheduled festival appearance, at the brand-new Blenheim Festival in Wodostock, Oxfordshire, where she is due to perform on July 4.
The current forecast for that date is sunny skies and temperatures in the mid-20s.
Oxford News
BBOWT shares tips for helping wild bees this summer
CAN you imagine summer without the sight of bumblebees buzzing from flower to flower, or a summer lunch without juicy tomatoes or strawberries?
If we don’t help our wild bees, this could be a glimpse of the future.
Our bees are in trouble.
Bees pollinate flowers, but also many of our favourite food crops, equivalent to every third mouthful of food we eat.
But they’re losing the habitat and plants they need to survive.
In the countryside, 97 per cent of lowland meadow has already been lost and the dramatic decrease in suitable habitats isn’t just confined to rural areas.
Gardens used to act as ‘green corridors’ for wildlife to move around towns and cities, and into and out of urban areas, but are increasingly being paved over or even covered with fake grass – with no real plants at all.
Helping bees is easy though.
Anyone can take action to help wild bees whether you have a wall for vertical planting, window box, or back garden.
It’s easy to plant a bee haven and fun choosing between bee-friendly beauties like borage, foxglove and honeysuckle.
There are 15 million gardens in the UK.
Put together they cover an area that’s seven times the size of the Isle of Wight.
If we all made our gardens more bee-friendly it would have a huge impact on our wild bees.
So, what should you plant in your garden?
Bees need a supply of pollen and nectar throughout the year, from late winter/early spring when some emerge from their winter hibernation right through until the end of the year.
Plant a selection of perennials, such as bergamot, globe thistle and knapweeds, for pollen through the summer.
These will provide bees with food year after year.
Add a few annuals each year, such as borage, cornflower and sunflower for variety.
Later in the autumn, hebe and ivy provide food when summer plants have gone to seed.
Then make sure you’ve got a few winter-flowering crocuses and hellebores to help bees as they emerge on warmer winter or early spring days in need of food after their winter hibernation.
Did you know there are around 250 species of bee in the UK?
Just one species of bee, the honeybee, actually makes honey.
Then there are bumblebees, which are familiar to most of us, and many different kinds of solitary bee.
Solitary bees are fantastic pollinators for our garden plants.
They don’t live in colonies, but instead the females make their own nest without any ‘workers’ to help them.
Some make their nests in gaps in the walls of old buildings or dig holes in bare ground (look for small piles of earth with a tiny hole in the middle).
You can help some species of solitary bee in your garden by providing a ‘bee hotel’.
Cut lengths of old bamboo and tie together, or drill long holes in old pieces of wood.
Hang somewhere sunny and sheltered and, in time, the bees will move in.
The exposed cliffs at BBOWT’s Dry Sandford Pit nature reserve near Abingdon are a haven for many types of solitary bee, which burrow into the soft, sandy layers.
Look for the ‘honeycomb’ of tiny holes.
You may see the UK’s newest bumblebee in your garden – the tree bumblebee.
These were first recorded here in 2001 but they’ve now spread throughout much of England and Wales.
They have a distinctive ginger-coloured back (thorax) and black and white abdomen.
Some make their homes in old bird nest boxes as they prefer to nest above the ground.
Help ensure our bees’ survival by making your garden bee-friendly this summer.
You’ll be making a real difference to our bees and helping to ensure our summer strawberries are here to stay.
Find out more about bees and how to help them at bbowt.org.uk/different-kinds-bees.
Oxford News
Buckland Primary School Weins Homes Badbury Green village
Year Six pupils from Buckland Primary School visited Wain Homes’ Badbury Green site to learn about the housebuilding process and future career opportunities.
During the visit, students explored the stages of construction, the importance of green spaces, and the wide variety of roles available in the industry.
James Stevens, class teacher at Buckland Primary School, said: “Thank you to the Wain Homes team for giving our children an enjoyable and informative experience in a way they could easily understand.
“The children now have knowledge of how the homes they live in are built and some of the careers they may be interested in as they get older. They particularly enjoyed looking round the show homes and having a go at laying some bricks.”
The pupils toured two show homes and tried their hand at bricklaying.
A time capsule, filled with children’s notes describing life in 2026, was also buried during the visit, set to be be opened in 2076.
Tim Lund, regional sales director at Wain Homes, said: “We hope the visit inspired some of the children to consider construction as a future career. They were eager to learn and now understand each stage of the process of building a modern energy efficient home.”
Wain Homes is building 125 energy-efficient homes at the site.
-
Oxford News4 weeks agoJeremy Clarkson hits back with sweary response over BGT backlash
-
Student Life4 weeks agoTransgender rights protest in central Oxford following updated EHRC guidance
-
Crime & Safety4 weeks agoPhotos as 1979 Pontiac Firebird ‘bursts in flames’ at Tesco
-
Business & Technology4 weeks agoLaw firm Roythornes Solicitors opens Abingdon office
-
Business & Technology4 weeks agoFlex Health Hub officially opens at Milton Park Oxfordshire
-
Business & Technology4 weeks agoOxford firm wins major backing for fin-based tidal power
-
Oxford News4 weeks agoJeremy Clarkson reveals new Clarkson’s Farm surprise guest stars
-
UK News2 weeks agoTwo arrests and three police officers injured in protest at asylum hotel
