East Midlands towns among worst in country for tooth decay and child development

The East Midlands is the second lowest region nationally for pre-school kids achieving a good level of development Credit: Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire/Press Association Images

Children's health and wellbeing varies dramatically across the country, with tooth decay and pre-school development of particular concern in the Midlands, according to a new report from the National Children's Bureau (NCB).

The report claimed that children were at the mercy of a "postcode lottery" when it came to their health, with areas varying significantly in deprivation levels.

  • Tooth Decay

Leicester was the worst place in the country for tooth decay, with 51% of children suffering with active tooth decay. That's more than 40% higher than the best performing area, which saw just 9% of children affected by tooth decay.

Rutland was also in the top ten worst affected areas. 39.2% of children in the area currently suffer from tooth decay.

  • Pre-school development

Three towns in the East Midlands were also among the worst in the country for the number of children achieving good development by the end of reception, aged four to five years.

Leicester was the worst area nationally, with Nottingham fourth and Derby ninth in the ten worst areas for development.

In the most successful area of the country, 75.3% of children were achieving good levels of development by the age of five years old.

  • Obesity

When it comes to child obesity, no towns in the East Midlands were noted as of particular concern i.e. among the top ten worst areas.

In fact, Rutland was noted as one of the top ten regions with fewest obese children. Only 6.9% of children in the area were noted as obese, according to the survey.