ALMOST a quarter of children in Worcestershire are already overweight or obese by the time they start primary school, figures have shown.

The figures released by the Health and Social Care Information Centre show 14.6 per cent of children in the county starting reception class – those aged four and five – were classed as overweight according to a measurement of their Body Mass Index (BMI) in the 2013-2014 school year, while 9.6 per cent were obese.

The amount of overweight children in year six – those aged 10 and 11 – was only slightly higher at 14.8 per cent, but the amount of those who were obese had almost doubled to 18.5 per cent.

A study of European countries released this week showed 23.1 per cent of children in the UK were overweight or obese, putting the country second only to Ireland, where 27.5 per cent of youngsters fall into the two categories.

Dr Joao Breda from the European office of the World Health Organisation (WHO) said it was important children and parents were educated about issues such as healthy eating and the dangers of obesity if the problem was to be tackled.

"Evidence suggests that early intervention before five years of age is necessary if the trajectory to overweight in children is to be arrested,” he said. “Action needs to be taken to have consistent surveillance on this specific population.”

As part of the fight against childhood obesity in Worcestershire health experts have urged the county council to block planning applications for more takeaways while setting up more public water fountains to discourage youngsters from drinking sugary drinks.

A separate study carried out by Leeds Beckett University, which is due to be presented at the European Congress on Obesity in Prague this week, found that children as young as six are suffering dissatisfaction with their bodies, with girls feeling more pressure to be thinner than boys.

Lead researcher Professor Pinki Sahota said the study showed overweight or obese children were more inclined to restrict their diets in an effort to lose weight at a time when nutrition is important for growth and development and called for education to consider psychological issues as well as physical health.

"Obesity prevention programmes need to consider psychological well-being and ensure that it is not compromised,” she said. “Further research should be conducted on how interventions can help improve psychological well-being in this age group."

The WHO study showed Kazahkstan had the lowest obesity rate in Europe at 0.6 per cent while rates were also low in the Czech Republic, Belgium and Sweden.

A separate study by the WHO released this week predicted 73 per cent of men and 63 per cent of women in the UK would be overweight or obese by 2030.