Almost one in four children are overweight by the time they enter primary school, according to figures out today.
The report, from the NHS Information Centre from 23 per cent of four to five-year-olds are overweight or obese. This rises to one in three youngsters by the time they reach their final year of primary school.
This means there has been barely any change in childhood obesity rates over the last few years, despite the Government recently spending £75million on a 'Change4Life' advertising campaign to encourage families to eat more healthily.
The data is taken from more than a million children (91 per cent of eligible pupils), as part of the Government's National Child Measurement Programme.
The scheme has been criticised for being voluntary, with research suggesting that some overweight and obese children 'opt out' of being weighed and measured, potentially skewing the results।
The study suggests that weight problems continue to be far worse for older children than for younger children, with one in three Year 6 pupils being either overweight or obese and nearly one in five obese.
'These statistics suggest that more needs to be done at a younger age to combat obesity within primary education and positively encourage healthy eating and participation in physical activity, to reduce future health implications for these children.'
