new figures show childhood obesity rates double while children are at primary school, with one in five leaving primary school obese  one in 10 children are obese when they start primary school at the age of four, shocking new figures have revealed and in the space of five years, childhood obesity rates double, with one in five children leaving primary school obese experts today warned that not enough is being done in schools to tackle the childhood obesity epidemic, urging the government to increase compulsory physical activity levels the new figures, published today by the health and social care information centre, show 95 per cent of reception class children, aged four to five, were obese in 2013 14 it marks a slight rise from 93 per cent the previous year, but is lower than in 2006 07, when 99 per cent of the age group were obese in year 6, the proportion of 10 to 11 year olds who were obese was 191 per cent in 2013 14, up from 189 per cent the previous year, and also a rise from 175 per cent in 2006 07 tam fry, spokesman for the national obesity forum, said while the 'adult population seems to be getting the message', with rates remaining largely constant in men and women, childhood obesity is the 'real concern' he told mailonline: 'the huge doubling between children aged four and 11 is particularly disastrous' mr fry warned by the time children reach 11 it is 'recognised they have more or less made up their minds about their lifestyle' 'those 11 year olds are probably going to end up as obese adults,' he said 'it means every year there will be more and more obese adults adding to these statistics' he said in scotland the nhs has been forced to re evaluate its obesity forecast figures, predicting that 50 per cent of the nation will be obese by 2030   20 years earlier than previously estimated 'we used to think we'd be retired and buried by 2050,' he said 'but 2030 is a whole generation earlier' while acknowledging the forecast is currently only specific to scotland, mr fry said it is a concerning trend mr fry, who is also chair of the child growth foundation, told mailonline the blame for spiralling primary school obesity rates, in part, lies with a failed education programme he said the current scheme, introduced by labour and pursued by the coalition government, 'isn't working' 'one of the reasons for these high rates of obesity by the time a child is 11 is a lack of physical education,' mr fry told mailonline 'children are just not getting enough exercise' he rejected the tendency of politicians to lay blame solely at the door of parents, noting the period where child obesity rates rise is when they are in primary school   and so spending the majority of their time away from home and he warned an added concern is not knowing how children are spending their pocket money at corner shops and on their way home experts say the exercise programme in schools 'isn't working' and today called for the government to introduce more pe lessons into the curriculum (file picture posed by models) 'if only schools were to have proper physical activity, these numbers would reduce significantly' mr fry said 'there must be an absolute requirement to bring physical education back into mainstream school activity 'parental responsibility is always the quick response from government 'but in fact once a child goes to school they are outside parental responsibility for a great amount of the day the pe and sport survey, conducted in 2009 10, found 55 per cent of pupils in years one to 13 participated in at least three hours of high quality pe and out of hours school sport each week sixty four per cent of pupils in primary schools reached that level of exercise each week the guidelines, introduced in 2011, state children aged five to 18 should be at least moderately active for at least an hour every day sixty minutes is, however, just a minimum and children and young people should in fact be active for several hours each day for the first time in 2011, the chief medical officers in the uk published guidelines for children under the age of five those able to walk unaided should be active for at least three hours a day, spread throughout the day source: hscic  'schools should take over that responsibility both in terms of teaching the child, and their wellbeing and welfare, but that is plainly not happening 'the government has really got to up the focus on physical activity for children at school and in pre school' but action to tackle childhood obesity rates cannot stop there, mr fry argued he said in light of statistics revealed at the weekend, that show hundreds of babies born each year are classified as obese, the focus must also be on informing women of the dangers of being overweight or obese at conception 'making sure females of child bearing age understand their responsibilities to the next generation is vital 'if a woman is overweight or obese at conception, it is most likely her baby will be obese from the moment it is born' he added: 'there is a huge amount of work to be done' today's figures do reveal childhood obesity has fallen from its peak of 19 per cent in 2004 and 2005 the hscic said the latest data is 'not statistically significantly different from those over the last three or four years' eustace de sousa, national lead for children, young people and families at public health england, said: 'overall childhood obesity rates have remained stable since 2010, however for children from the poorest households levels have continued to worsen so there is no room for complacency 'we know that almost one in 10 four to five year olds are obese (95 per cent) and by age 10 11 this doubles to nearly one in five (191 per cent) 'obese children are more likely to experience bullying, low self esteem, anxiety, depression and have a higher risk of becoming obese adults and developing type 2 diabetes and heart disease as a result'
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10% of children start primary school obese, new figures show today . by the time children leave primary school 20% of children are obese . experts warned of 'disastrous' trend, calling for more pe lessons . said obese children are 'more likely' to become obese adults 