The British Medical Council (BMA) has called for tough action to stem the rise in childhood obesity.

More than 22 million children under five are severely overweight and in the UK there are around one million obese children under 16 years of age. These soaring rates in obesity have lead to an increase in childhood type II diabetes and will lead to more future cases of heart disease, osteoarthritis and some cancers, says the report from the BMA’s Board of Science.

And if the trend continues, estimates indicate that at least one fifth of boys and one third of girls will be obese by 2020.

The BMA puts forward a number of recommendations in its report, Preventing Childhood Obesity, which include more government funding to improve access to sport and recreation facilities in schools and communities.

It also calls for a sustained public education campaign to improve both parents’ and children’s understanding of the benefits of healthy living, as well as ban on all unhealthy food and drinks vending machines in schools.

“It is madness that at a time when children are being told to eat less and do more exercise, they go into school and are sold fizzy drinks and doughnuts and do less than two hours time-tabled exercise a week,’ says Dr Vivienne Nathanson, head of the BMA science and ethics.

“There is no room for complacency and it’s essential that the government listens to what doctors are saying. We know that parents want to do the best for their children and we hope this report will help them to do that.” Details: www.bma.org.uk/ap.nsf/content/childhoodobesity