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Leeds: Fifth of city's children 10 to 11 obese
A fifth of 10 and 11 year olds in Leeds are obese, new figures reveal.
Government stats also show one in 10 of the city's four and five-year-olds tip the scales at dangerously high levels.
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According to experts, they are storing up major health problems for the future, including an increased risk of developing cancer, heart disease and diabetes.
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Leeds-based childhood obesity expert Prof Paul Gately said: "We're seeing these diseases in people in their 20s and 30s when it used to be in their 50s and 60s.
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"We know that, in the short-term, too, kids' mental health, general wellbeing and their attainment at school are all massively impacted."
The figures, revealed by the NHS Information Centre, show that in Leeds 13.2 per cent of reception class children are overweight and a further 10.3 per cent are obese.
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The figures worsen at the age of 10 and 11 when 14.2 per cent are overweight and 20.9 per cent are obese.
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Levels in Leeds are slightly up on last year when 11 per cent of younger children and 9.3 per cent of older children were considered obese.
In Wakefield, levels of childhood obesity have fallen slightly this year, to 9.5 per cent of reception-age youngsters and 18 per cent of older children.
In Kirklees, 14 per cent of four and five year olds and 16.4 per cent of 10 and 11 years olds are obese.
On average in England, 9.2 per cent of younger children and 18.3 per cent of older children are officially obese.
Leeds Metropolitan University's Prof Gately, the brains behind the city's groundbreaking "fat camps", said Yorkshire was leading the way in tackling childhood obesity.
His Carnegie Weight Management organisation is commissioned by the NHS to provide clinics for children in Leeds, Bradford, Rotherham, Sheffield and Doncaster.
He told the YEP: "In about the last 18 months to two years, the NHS in Yorkshire has really made the issue a priority and they have really invested in it.
"As a result, Yorkshire is doing OK, certainly in comparison to some other areas like London.
"The only answer to tackling the obesity problem is investment and recognising that if you treat the problem now, you save money in the long run.
"The health problems associated with obesity put a huge strain on the NHS. By 2050, it is expected that the cost to society of obesity will be 50bn a year. At the moment, the NHS's entire budget is 100bn. So you can see we have to tackle the situation now, before we reach crisis level."
* Youngsters were weighed under the Government's National Child Measurement Programme 2008/09.
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Weather for Leeds
Friday 25 May 2012
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Temperature: 10 C to 23 C
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