Childhood obesity in Sussex is below the national average for the UK, new figures show.

Data on the estimated level of obesity among Year 6 age children shows that parts of the county have some of the lowest rates in the entire country.

The NHS England statistics show childhood obesity in the UK has fallen for the third straight year.

Horsham was found to have the lowest rate in Sussex with just 14 per cent of children measuring as obese in the last academic year.

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Children in the Arun District Council area are more likely to be obese according to the figures. In total 21.9 per cent of Year 6 age children in the area were considered obese.

Every local authority in Sussex had a childhood obesity rate below the national average – just over 22 per cent.

The figures have fallen for the third year in a row but are still higher than pre-pandemic levels.

Obesity among Year 6 children was 29.2 per cent in the most deprived areas, compared with 13 per cent in the least deprived areas.

The figures show that around one in ten children joining primary school in England are obese, with 9.6 per cent of reception-age youngsters obese in 2023/24, up from 9.2 per cent in 2022/23.