Table 1.
Sample characteristics of index children participating in the National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP)
| All (n=19 702) | Reception (n=13 699) | Year 6 (n=6003) | |||||||
| n | % | 95% CI | n | % | 95% CI | n | % | 95% CI | |
| Sex | |||||||||
| Male | 10 079 | 51.2 | 50.5, 51.9 | 7005 | 51.2 | 50.4, 52.1 | 3074 | 51.1 | 49.9, 52.4 |
| Female | 9623 | 48.8 | 48.1, 49.5 | 6694 | 48.8 | 47.9, 49.6 | 2929 | 48.9 | 47.6, 50.1 |
| School year* | |||||||||
| Reception | 13 699 | 69.5 | 68.9, 70.2 | 13 699 | 100.0 | ||||
| Year 6 | 6003 | 30.5 | 29.8, 31.1 | 6003 | 100.0 | ||||
| Academic year† | |||||||||
| 2031/2014 & 2014/2015 | 517 | 2.6 | 2.4, 2.9 | 463 | 3.4 | 3.1, 3.7 | 54 | 0.9 | 0.6, 1.2 |
| 2015/2016 | 1926 | 9.8 | 9.4, 10.2 | 1530 | 11.2 | 10.7, 11.7 | 396 | 6.6 | 6.0, 7.3 |
| 2016/2017 | 3751 | 19.0 | 18.5, 19.6 | 2748 | 20.0 | 19.4, 20.7 | 1003 | 16.7 | 15.8, 17.7 |
| 2017/2018 | 5980 | 30.4 | 29.7, 31.0 | 4100 | 30.0 | 29.2, 30.7 | 1880 | 31.3 | 30.1, 32.5 |
| 2018/2019 | 7528 | 38.2 | 37.5, 38.9 | 4858 | 35.5 | 34.7, 36.3 | 2670 | 44.5 | 43.2, 45.7 |
| Local authority‡ | |||||||||
| City & Hackney | 4998 | 25.4 | 24.8, 26.0 | 3489 | 25.5 | 24.7, 26.2 | 1509 | 25.2 | 24.1, 26.3 |
| Newham | 6472 | 32.9 | 32.2, 33.5 | 4444 | 32.5 | 31.7, 33.3 | 2028 | 33.8 | 32.6, 35.0 |
| Tower Hamlets | 3495 | 17.7 | 17.2, 18.3 | 2571 | 18.7 | 18.1, 19.4 | 924 | 15.4 | 14.5, 16.3 |
| Waltham Forest | 4737 | 24.0 | 23.4, 24.6 | 3195 | 23.3 | 22.6, 24.0 | 1542 | 25.6 | 24.6, 26.8 |
| Ethnic background§ | |||||||||
| White | 4615 | 23.4 | 22.9, 24.0 | 3240 | 23.7 | 22.9, 24.4 | 1375 | 22.9 | 21.9, 24.0 |
| Mixed and other | 3823 | 19.4 | 18.8, 19.9 | 2620 | 19.1 | 18.4, 19.8 | 1203 | 20.0 | 19.0, 21.1 |
| South Asian | 6812 | 34.6 | 33.9, 35.3 | 4813 | 35.1 | 34.3, 35.9 | 1999 | 33.3 | 32.1, 34.5 |
| Black | 4452 | 22.6 | 22.0, 23.2 | 3026 | 22.1 | 21.4, 22.8 | 1426 | 23.7 | 22.7, 24.8 |
| Weight status¶ | |||||||||
| Underweight | 270 | 1.4 | 1.2, 1.5 | 194 | 1.4 | 1.2, 1.6 | 76 | 1.3 | 1.0, 1.6 |
| Healthy weight | 15 005 | 76.2 | 75.6, 76.8 | 11 025 | 80.5 | 79.9, 81.2 | 3980 | 66.3 | 65.1, 67.5 |
| Overweight | 2372 | 12.0 | 11.5, 12.4 | 1399 | 10.2 | 9.7, 10.7 | 973 | 16.1 | 15.2, 17.0 |
| Obese | 2055 | 10.4 | 10.0, 10.9 | 1081 | 7.9 | 7.4, 8.3 | 974 | 16.3 | 15.4, 17.3 |
*School year of participation in the NCMP; reception participants are aged 4–5 years and year 6 participants are aged 10–11 years.
†Academic year of participation in the NCMP. Academic years run from September to July. The 2013/2014 and 2014/2015 academic years were combined to minimise the risk of disclosing individuals.
‡Local authority of school where child participated in the NCMP.
§As recorded in the NCMP and, where missing, supplemented with ethnic background as recorded in the child’s primary care electronic health record.
¶NCMP-recorded body mass index (BMI) after application of ethnic-specific BMI adjustments, categorised according to UK1990 clinical reference standard: ‘underweight’ (BMI <2nd centile), ‘healthy weight’ (≥2nd–<91st centile), ‘overweight’ (≥91st–<98th centile) or ‘obese’ (≥98th centile).