At my school in Deptford this issue is exacerbated by high poverty levels and a high street full of unhealthy kebab and fried chicken takeaways.
When pupils in my borough start reception, one in five is obese or overweight, which is in line with the national average. But by the time they leave primary school, those numbers are double the national average.
Lockdown lack of activity
The pandemic and multiple lockdowns have made this worse. With leisure centres closed and sports classes cancelled, children have had less opportunities for exercise.
Figures from Sport England show that the majority of young people failed to meet the recommended 60 minutes of daily exercise in the 2019/20 academic year. And almost a third of children (2.3 million) were classed as 'inactive' thanks to restrictions during lockdown, not even doing 30 minutes of exercise a day.
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