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Parliamentary QA

Annual Prevalence of Obesity for Children aged below 18 over Past Five Years, their profile and Assessed Effectiveness of Preventive Measures

14 February 2022

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NOTICE PAPER NO. 960
NOTICE OF QUESTION FOR WRITTEN ANSWER
FOR THE SITTING OF PARLIAMENT ON 14 FEBRUARY 2022

Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament
Mr Leon Perera
MP for Aljunied GRC

Question No. 1559

To ask the Minister for Health (a) over the past five years, what is the annual prevalence of obesity for children aged below 18 years, with a breakdown by their (i) housing type and (ii) race; (b) how has the childhood obesity rate been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic; and (c) what is the assessed effectiveness of measures to prevent and address childhood obesity.

Written Answer

From 2017 to 2021, the proportion of students who were overweight (BMI-for-age at or above the 90th percentile1) in schools (primary, secondary and pre-university levels) had increased from 13% to 16%. The increase was mainly observed in the last two years. Due to COVID-19, opportunities for physical activities in schools had been impacted over the past two years.

This might have led to a more sedentary lifestyle and contributed to the increase in obesity among students. More studies are needed to analyse the impact of COVID-19 on the prevalence of obesity among students by housing type and race.

We have undertaken various measures to prevent and address childhood obesity. We work with the Ministry of Education, Early Childhood Development Agency and pre-schools to provide school health promotion for students, parents, and staff. In schools and Institutes of Higher Learning, we provide healthier meals. HPB also supplements school-based efforts with community-based healthy eating and physical activity programmes. Secondary schools and the Institute of Technical Education also offer lifestyle coaching to severely overweight students. In 2021, 64% of the participants achieved BMI reduction of more than 0.5 points or reached their acceptable weight by the end of the six-month programme.

1: Based on the Anthropometric Study 2002 among 15k students aged 6-18 yrs.