MEASURES must be put in place to halt the tide of childhood obesity before it is too late, some of Worcestershire’s top health bosses have said.

In May your Worcester News reported 14.6 per cent of children aged four and five in the county were classed as overweight according to a measurement of their Body Mass Index, while 9.6 per cent were obese. Although the amount of overweight children aged 10 and 11 is only slightly higher at 14.8 per cent, obesity is almost double at 18.5 per cent.

Speaking at the annual conference of patient watchdog Healthwatch Worcestershire on Friday, June 26, Paul Sheldon from Wyre Forest and Redditch and Bromsgrove Clinical Commissioning Groups said it was important work was done to cut the amount of overweight or obese children as a matter of urgency.

“Tackling this as early as possible is absolutely part of the CCG’s responsibilities,” he said. “It’s something that is happening across the country.

“The less we do about it now the more it will be a problem in the future.”

He added he was particularly concerned the problem was more apparent in the Wyre Forest and the north of the county.

Dr Anthony Kelly from NHS South Worcestershire Clinical Commissioning Group said he believed Worcestershire County Council’s Health and Well-being Board, which he sits on as a representative of the south of the county, should take responsibility and ownership of the problem.