Campbell said the Royal College of General Practitioners and the British Medical Association would not recognise child obesity as an issue because "they do not want (to increase) the workload on doctors".
He added: "The majority of my colleagues - doctors, nurses, dietitians, health visitors - are paying scant regard to this very serious problem."
But Dr Peter Maguire, deputy chairman of the BMA's board of science, said the association took "obesity extremely seriously".
He continued: "In the last three months we have published two reports on adolescent health and diabetes."
Maguire called obesity "a public health time-bomb that will lead to huge numbers of people suffering cardiovascular and respiratory disease". He said doctors were dealing with the workload that comes from high obesity rates. "We want to tackle this problem before the situation gets out of control."
Register Now to Continue Reading
Thank you for visiting Children & Young People Now and making use of our archive of more than 60,000 expert features, topics hubs, case studies and policy updates. Why not register today and enjoy the following great benefits:
What's Included
-
Free access to 4 subscriber-only articles per month
-
Email newsletter providing advice and guidance across the sector
Already have an account? Sign in here