A research report by Nuffield Foundation found that rates of obesity and being overweight among under-fives had remained “broadly static” since 2005.
But these rates have increased markedly over the last year.
In England the proportion of children in this age group classified as obese rose from 9.9 per cent in 2019/20 to 14.4 per cent in 2020/21, which is around one in seven children.
One in 20 children are classified as severely obese when they start primary school, the research found.
This increases the risk of children being impacted by cancer, heart disease and type 2 diabetes in later life, warns the Nuffield Foundation.
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