National Child Measurement Programme: results from the 2006/07 school year

To familiarise yourself with NCMP, we recommend you read our what, why, how and where sections below.

What is the NCMP?

Established in 2005, the National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP) weighs and measures children in reception (aged 4 to 5 years) and year 6 (aged 10 to 11 years) to assess overweight and obese levels.

In 2006/2007, 876,416 primary school children were measured (80 per cent of those eligible).

The Department of Health (DH) and Department for Children Schools and Families (DCSF) have responsibility for the NCMP.

Why do we have the NCMP?

The NCMP was set up in line with the Government's strategy to tackle obesity and to:

inform local planning and delivery of services for children
gather population-level data to allow analysis of trends in growth patterns and obesity
increase public and professional understanding of weight issues in children and be a vehicle for engaging with children and families about healthy lifestyles and weight issues.

How is the data collected?

The measurement process was overseen by trained healthcare professionals in schools and was not shared with school staff or pupils.

Data was captured and checked by Primary Care Trusts, then collated nationally and validated again by The NHS Information Centre (NHS IC) before publication.

All information received by the NHS IC is anonymised, so individual children can not be identified. Robust information security measurements are in place to ensure that data is held and accessed securely.

For further information, please refer to the frequently asked questions or visit www.dh.gov.uk/healthyliving.