Childhood obesity rates are starting to fall across the district, latest figures show.

The downward trend comes as letters begin to go out to the parents of about 7,000 children who were weighed and measured as part of a national programme to fight childhood obesity.

The letters from the child health team at NHS Bradford and Airedale will tell parents whether their children are very overweight, overweight, a healthy weight or underweight, based on their body mass index.

School nurses weigh and measure all children when they start school in reception at the age of four or five and again at the age of ten and 11. This is the fourth year that NHS Bradford and Airedale has been carrying out the measurements and the second year they have been shared with parents.

Latest figures for 2008/09 show 21 per cent of children aged four and five and 30 per cent aged ten and 11 were either overweight or obese.

But the proportion of overweight and obese ten and 11-year-olds changed little between 2006 and 2008, and there has been a small decrease in the proportion of overweight and obese four and five-year olds.

Over the last three years obesity hotspots have been identified in Thornton and Allerton, for four and five-year-olds and in Keighley central and Manning-ham wards, for ten and 11-year-olds.

Children who are overweight are more likely to develop high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes and cancer.

Dr Shirley Brierley, public health consultant for Bradford and Airedale said: “Obesity is a major public health issue nationally and Bradford is no exception.

“This isn’t about pointing the finger and telling parents that their children are overweight, instead it’s about equipping parents with the information they need to help their children live healthier lives.

“The evidence shows that there are many obese children in every part of the city, not just a few isolated areas, and that picture is quite complex as there are some underweight children as well.”

Parents needing more advice should contact their school nurse or Bradford and Airedale Community Health Service’s Options team on (01274) 202802.