An average 15-year-old boy weighed 9st 5lbs (60.7kg) in 2003, compared with just over 9st 2lbs (58.8kg) in 1995. The average weight of a 15-year-old girl in 2003 was just under 9st 3lbs (58.9kg), compared with 9st 2lbs (58.5kg) in 1995.
Researchers also questioned how levels of childhood obesity were measured in the UK. The national standard only took into account the young person's weight for their age, whereas the international method looked at weight and height. Rates of obesity among young people under the UK system were 15.5 per cent, compared with 6.75 per cent under the global standard.
But Dr Colin Waine, a member of the National Obesity Forum, dismissed the report, saying it was "scientifically unsound". "Leading experts have found that obesity levels among young people are rising, which we should be very worried about," he said. "It's important that professionals continue to get the healthy eating message across."
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