Published: 21st May 2024
Public Health Wales has released its most recent Child Measurement Programme official statistics which cover the period 2022-23.
It’s the first time since the pandemic that the data covers all Health Board areas, and therefore it includes all-Wales level data – which hasn’t been available since the 2018-19 release.
Nearly 30,000 children aged 4 and 5 had their height and weight measured by school nursing teams as part of the Child Measurement Programme. The Programme reports these data nationally, by health board and by local authority in order to monitor population health needs.
Dr Llion Davies, Consultant in Public Health at Public Health Wales, said: “During the period of the pandemic, the collection of this data was paused in several areas due to the need to redeploy staff to other priorities.
“It has therefore been several years since we have been able to provide an all-Wales picture, and I am extremely grateful to the school nursing teams whose hard work has meant that we have been able to restore this programme to its pre-pandemic levels.”
Public Health Wales’ Every Child Wales website has a wealth of resources to help parents to help them give their children the best start in life.
Based around ’10 Steps to a Healthy Weight’, the site gives parents practical and useful tips about how to ensure their child gets enough fruit and vegetables, spends time playing outdoors, gets enough sleep, and limits screen time.