One in four children overweight or obese

More than a quarter of children in England aged between 2 and 10
are overweight, official statistics published last week reveal.

Between 1995 and 2003, the proportion of children in this age
group who were classed as overweight rose from 22.7 per cent to
27.7 per cent. Almost half of these were clinically obese.

Increases were most significant among children aged between 8
and 10, where obesity levels rose from 11.2 per cent to 16.5 per
cent over the same time period.

Although the 2003 figures represent a slight fall compared with
estimates for 2002, the drop is too small to conclude whether a
corner has really been turned.

The government has set itself a target of halting the
year-on-year increase in obesity among children under 11 by
2010.