MORE than one in six 11-year-olds in the district are fat, according to figures released by the Office for National Statistics.
The research shows 17.5 per cent of children in Year 6 – around 251 pupils – are obese.
The average for Essex is 16.08 per cent, while national figures stand at 20.54 per cent.
Published last week, the study found more than 4,000 children in the area live in poverty too.
Of the district's 148,000 population, 15.4 per cent of children are part of families living on means-tested benefits or low income. That compares to 16.63 per cent for the county and 20.54 per cent nationally.
The figures come from a survey of 1,000 households in the district in 2012 and 2013.
Life expectancy for women varies from 81 to 86 according to wealth, and 77 to 84 for men.
The inequality is attributed to insufficient access to medical care and education for the poorer in society and is linked to the number of recorded smoking-related deaths a year in the district of 211.
The levels of A* to C GCSE grades, including maths and English, for deprived children are lower than the national average of 60.68 per cent at 52.3 per cent. The county as a whole averages 59.68 per cent.
But incidents of sexually transmitted infections and tuberculosis were better than the average across the country.
The profile was designed to give the council a picture of Braintree's health to help the authority and health services understand the community's needs, improve the population's health and reduce these health inequalities.
The council considers reducing the obesity in adults and children, as well as the number of hip fractures in over 65s, a priority.
