One in three 11-year-olds is still overweight or obese - but an expert has warned that the country ’ s fat youngsters are now ‘ getting fatter ’ Britain now has 140,000 ‘ super-fat ’ children who will need gastric bands as adults if they do not slim down , according to a leading expert . The number of seriously overweight children has soared in recent years as Ministers have failed to tackle the problem , said Professor Paul Gately . Official statistics suggest childhood obesity rates have plateaued in recent years – although one in three 11-year-olds is still overweight or obese . But Prof Gately , who treats obese patients , said the figures disguised the fact that the country ’ s fat youngsters were now ‘ getting fatter ’ . Speaking at an event to discuss whether people were too worried about childhood obesity , he said the problem was ‘ much worse ’ than many feared . Overall rates had stabilised , but only because middle-class families had started heeding advice to eat healthily and take more exercise , he said . He added : ‘ Unfortunately , those children who are already obese are getting fatter . So more deprived communities are getting more obese. ’ He continued : ‘ We have 140,000 children in the UK who are so obese that if they were adults they would be immediately eligible for surgery. ’ Society had to ‘ think very carefully about that ’ , he told a meeting at the Policy Exchange think-tank in London , because ‘ obese children tend to become obese adults ’ . Under recently published guidelines , adults should be considered for weight-loss surgery if they have a body mass index ( BMI ) of 30 or more and ‘ very poorly controlled ’ type 2 diabetes . A BMI of 30 is equivalent to a 5ft 6in woman weighing 13st 9lb , or a 5ft 11in man of 15st 6lb . Any patient with type 2 diabetes and a BMI over 35 should also be considered for weight-reduction surgery , according to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence . Britain now has 140,000 ‘ super-fat ’ children who will need gastric bands as adults if they do not slim down . Teenagers rarely have fat-loss surgery , with only 60 such operations taking place last year . However , as The Mail on Sunday revealed last month , patients are getting younger , with a 12-year-old boy recently going under the knife . Prof Gately , an exercise and obesity specialist at Leeds Metropolitan University , believes successive governments squandered billions on scattergun attempts to protect all children from obesity – when only some were actually ‘ at risk ’ . Arguing many obese people were victims of circumstance , he claimed the current Government ’ s policy of emphasising ‘ personal responsibility ’ over weight led to people feeling blamed , which was counterproductive . rofessor Paul Gately ( pictured ) says the number of seriously overweight children has soared in recent years as Ministers have failed to tackle the problem . And he accused local councils of spending only minuscule amounts on obesity prevention or on helping those affected , even though the problems ‘ dwarfed ’ other public health issues that had money lavished on them , such as sexually transmitted infections . Tam Fry , of the National Obesity Forum , said : ‘ If we only had a real policy for preventing children from getting fat in the first place , we would not have ridiculous figures like this. ’ Mr Fry said he believed more teenagers should undergo fat-loss surgery , adding that gastric bands were proven to help patients lose weight and keep it off . But weight-loss motivator Steve Miller countered : ‘ Why should parents expect the taxpayer to pay for their child to go on the operating table , because they have been so irresponsible as to let them get so fat ? ’ He added : ‘ Gastric bands don ’ t treat the underlying reasons why a child is obese , which could be caused by emotional problems or self-esteem issues. ’ Former Tory Health Secretary Andrew Lansley , who also spoke at the Policy Exchange event , said the Government ’ s health initiatives had helped make food healthier – cutting salt and fat levels , and reducing the nation ’ s intake by billions of calories a day . And he said it was right to stress personal responsibility because it was important that people realised they could take action to cut their weight .
Britain now has 140,000 'super-fat ' children who will need gastric bands . Number of seriously overweight children has soared in recent years . One in three 11-year-olds are classed as overweight or obese in the UK . Expert has warned that fat youngsters are now 'getting fatter '