Health of our children and young people
The population of Darlington is growing, with latest figures showing a population of 112,489 people [external link]
In Darlington, statistics of public health data collection [external link] show:
- a baby boy born today can expect to live on average for 78 years
- a baby girl born today can expect to live on average for 82 years
However, we know the number of years people live in poor health in Darlington is increasing. This can have a big impact on people’s lives every day. It can reduce their ability to enjoy activities with family and friends, or no longer being able to work.
In Darlington:
- a baby boy born today could spend 20 years of their life in poor health
- a baby girl born today could spend 24 years of their life in poor health
What else does the data tell us about Darlington?
- The annual birth rate in Darlington is 1,056 live births (this has been increasing slowly since 2022)
- 17.8% of the population is aged under 16 years (22,771 people)
- 9 wards in Darlington are in the top 20% most deprived in England
- 24.8% of children in Darlington between the ages of 0 to 15 years old live in poverty; this represents 4,968 children [external link]
- 10 out of the 20 wards in Darlington have levels of child poverty higher than the Darlington average of 24.8%
- 3.7% of babies born at term have a low birth weight (England average is 3%)
- 8.4% of mothers are known to be smokers at the time of having their baby (England average is 6.1%)
- 55.6% of babies have breastmilk for their first feed (England average is 71.9%)
- Only 88.9% of children have received two doses of MMR vaccination at the age of 5 years
- 64.9% of children achieve a good level of development by the end of their reception year at school (England average is 68.3%), but this reduces to 44.7% for children with free school meal status (England average is 51.3%)
- 25.3% of 5-year-olds have dental decay (England average is 22.4%)
- 26.9% of children in reception class are overweight or obese (England average is 23.5%)
- 35.7% of children in year 6 are overweight or obese (England average is 36.2%)
- For children aged 14 years and under the rate of hospital admissions is more than twice the rate of the England average (149 per 10,000 population in Darlington, compared to 72.7 in England)
- The rate of hospital admissions in under 18s for alcohol-specific conditions is more than twice the rate of the England average (46.3 per 100,000 population in Darlington, compared to 22.6 in England)
- The rate of hospital admissions for self-harm among 10- to 24-year-olds is reducing, but remains high 382.1 per 100,000 population (England average is 266.6)