Childhood Obesity & Student Health SingaporeChildhood Obesity & Student Health Singapore
Official student health data from Health Promotion Board via SingStat. In 2025, 1,883 P1 and 3,260 P5 students overweight; both rose from 2024. Real data from Table M870421.
In 2025, 1,883 Primary 1 pupils and 3,260 Primary 5 pupils were classified as overweight in Singapore's school health screening, while 6,263 students were found to have defective vision. Overweight numbers dipped in 2024 but rose again in 2025 at both levels, whereas detected vision defects have continued their long decline. Figures are official student-health counts from the Health Promotion Board via SingStat Table M870421.
Primary 1
Overweight 2025
Primary 5
Overweight 2025
Vision
Defects 2025
COVID Peak
Total 2021
What changed: 2024 → 2025
After easing in 2024, overweight numbers rose again in 2025 at both levels.
Overweight Students Trend (2012-2025)
Number of students by level
Vision Defects Trend (2012-2025)
Students with defective vision detected (2022 screening-criteria change)
Data Sources
Student Health Data
- • Source: Singapore Department of Statistics (SingStat)
- • Table ID: M870421 ↗
- • Provider: Health Promotion Board
- • BMI ≥90th percentile = overweight (since July 2010)
Key Statistics (2025)
- • P1 Overweight: 1,883 students (+5.0% vs 2024)
- • P5 Overweight: 3,260 students (+5.4% vs 2024)
- • Vision Defects: 6,263 students
- • 2021 COVID Peak: 5,942
Analysis: what the 2025 health data shows
Overweight: a COVID spike, then a 2025 rebound
Overweight counts spiked during COVID-19 — the 2021 circuit-breaker year pushed Primary 1 cases to 2,438 and Primary 5 to 3,504. They eased over 2023–2024 as activity normalised, but 2025 shows a renewed uptick: Primary 1 rose to 1,883 (+5.0% on 2024) and Primary 5 to 3,260 (+5.4%). Primary 5 consistently runs higher than Primary 1, pointing to weight gain accumulating through the primary years.
After dipping in 2024, childhood overweight numbers rose again in 2025 at both P1 and P5 — worth watching.
Health Promotion Board · SingStat M870421
Vision: a real fall, but mind the 2022 break
Vision tells a different story. Detected defects have fallen sharply — from over 10,000 a year before 2022 to 6,263 in 2025 — but much of that step-down reflects a change in screening criteria in 2022 rather than a sudden improvement in eyesight. The pre- and post-2022 numbers should be read as two separate series.
What schools and parents can do
- • Active habits early: P5 counts run higher than P1, so habits built in the first years matter most
- • Healthy Meals in Schools: canteen guidelines shape everyday choices
- • ~2 hours outdoor time: the standard advice to slow the onset of myopia
- • Physical education: a minimum of two hours a week in the curriculum
SGSchoolKaki Education Team
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