More children aged 8–17 trying to lose weight than a decade ago, including children of a healthy weight

Over a quarter (26.5%) of children reported trying to lose weight between 2015 and 2016, a 5% increase over 1997 and 1998, finds new research from the University of Oxford. The largest increases in weight loss attempts were seen in boys, older children, Asian children, and children from lower income households, according to the study published today in the Archives of Disease in Childhood.