Public Health England figures, state that 1 in 25 children in England aged 10 or 11 are severely obese, new analysis has found. Are the government doing enough?

Height and weight charts used to measure the healthy weight of children, have classed those as severely overweight as rising from 15,000 in reception to 22,000 by the time children leave primary school. This has led to many calling for urgent change.

The government insists its childhood obesity plan which was establish in 2016 is "comprehensive". More than 600 primary school pupils in the West Midlands took part in a 12-month anti-obesity programme. But the study found no improvement the children's diet or activity levels, despite the programme incorporating; a daily opportunity to do 30 minutes of additional exercise, a six-week healthy eating and exercise programme in conjunction with Aston Villa Football Club, healthy cooking workshops once a term for families, and highlighting of local family physical activities

The sugar tax is welcome and overdue, being introduced on 1 April this year. The government expects to receive £250million from the sugar tax in its first year, down from previous estimate £540m.  Soft drink companies who make products containing more than 5% sugar have to pay between 18p and 24p for every litre they produce. This means that nearly 50% of the sugar-sweetened soft drinks market have reduced the level of sugar in their products, in order to avoid paying the levy. This exposes the sad state of affairs as money comes before responsibility in our modern world. Gladly, the income raised is being invested in school sports and breakfast clubs. 

The Local Government Association warned that obese children risked having their years of healthy adult life cut short by a host of health problems, including diabetes, cancer and heart disease.

Izzi Seccombe, chairwoman of the LGA's community wellbeing board, said: "These new figures on severely obese children, who are in the most critical overweight category, are a further worrying wake-up call for urgent joined-up action."

Legislation and regulation cannot protect against all health threats – but they help create an environment that facilitates protection of individuals.

JamieOliver.com states, "This is just the start of a range of measures needed to reduce the rate of childhood obesity – including tighter restrictions on the advertising of foods and drinks that contain high amounts of sugar, salt and saturated fat".