OBESITY and sleep deprivation are among the main issues affecting the health of schoolchildren in Wrexham, senior officials have said.

It follows a report being published by Wrexham Council which shows about 30 per cent of four to five-year-olds in the county are overweight or obese.

Meanwhile, almost a third of 3,254 secondary school pupils who responded to a recent health survey said they go to bed at 11.30pm or later despite having school the next day.

Councillors in the area have now asked for further information on what action schools are taking to address the problems.

Cllr Carrie Harper, who represents the Queensway area of Caia Park, said she believed poverty could be linked to obesity levels in children in Wrexham.

The Plaid Cymru councillor said: “I had to read the statistic for four to five-year-olds twice.

“It’s quite staggering and it’s something I’d like to see this committee scrutinise in more detail in future.

“Looking at some of the other stats, we’re below the Welsh average according to the pupil survey in terms of the amount of fruit and veg eaten by pupils, the amount of pupils who drink water and we’re above the average for the amount who drink sugary drinks as well.

“We know that obesity and deprivation and child poverty are linked and I was wondering if we have a breakdown of that at a Wrexham level.”

Officers said they did not have access to all the data on obesity as it was gathered by Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board.

However, they added that a significant amount of support is offered to parents and children to encourage healthy eating.

Meanwhile, concerns were also raised the nearly 40 per cent of youngsters said they look at devices such as phones or tablets late at night.

Church representative Brendan McDonald said many children had phones, TVs and laptops in the room, but many families were unaware of the health consequences.

He highlighted a meeting he held during his time in education with a psychologist to show the effects.

He said: “Whilst we’re not here to say what parents and children should have in their bedrooms, that’s having an impact.

“I invited parents in to the school after this and the psychologist spoke to parents who were absolutely horrified at the impact these electronic devices were potentially having on their children.”

Cllr Andrew Atkinson, Wrexham’s lead member for youth services and anti-poverty, said seven of the nine secondary schools in the area took part in the health survey.

Action plans have now been drawn to address the problems raised.

Responding to Mr McDonald’s comments, the Conservative councillor said: “Many of us are school governors and perhaps in our governing bodies we can request this data and look at what is particular to the school.

“There might be things that are as simple as that which are a powerful way of getting the message over to parents without pointing the finger in a way of working together.”

The committee also discussed the growing demand for counselling services among school pupils.

There are nearly 200 young people on a waiting list for support for issues such as family problems and mental health conditions but some are waiting as long as four months to be seen.

Officers said they were trying to work with primary schools to address such problems earlier.

Donna Dickenson, head of service for education, said: “I’ve attended a couple of meetings with the counselling services and am aware of the level of referrals that are coming through.

“We cannot meet demand at the moment and we have been trying to work earlier with the primary schools.

“The key is there in terms of working much earlier with children.

“If someone’s urgently in need of help and support we will get it quickly, but we do have to assess.”

Councillors asked for more details on how childhood obesity and sleep deprivation are being tackled by schools.

They will receive a report on the issues at a later date.