NEARLY one in five ten-year-olds in Southampton is clinically obese, new figures have revealed.

Some 18.6 per cent of children in year six are so overweight that it could threaten their life, Government research has found.

Almost one in ten children (9.3 per cent) are obese by the time they reach school age in the city.

The figures from the 2007/08 academic year have been compiled under the National Child Measurement Programme that charts the weight of children through primary school.

In Hampshire 15.9 per cent of year six children and 8.3 per cent of reception children were classed as obese.

Research has pointed to a range of reasons why obesity is on the increase including the rise of convenience foods, marketing of unhealthy foods and people taking less exercise.

Health chiefs have described the figures as alarming. They say a cultural shift is needed if the problem of overweight children is to be tackled.

This year for the first time the figures will be given to parents of the children who are severely overweight in an effort to target those most at risk.

The Primary Care Trust is working with the city council to compile a directory that will pin-point all the services promoting healthier living that are available to parents and families.

Clubs are also being set up to support families of youngsters with weight problems.

Southampton City Primary Care Trust fit for life co-ordinator Marie Johnson said: “These figures are rising and they are high at the moment. Childhood obesity is a problem across the country, but in Southampton a lot of work is already being done to tackle it and I think we are stepping up to that challenge.”

Hampshire PCT is working to add to the 74 per cent of schools that have already achieved healthy schools status. One initiative is delivering a Jamie Oliver-style cookery programme where school cooks are holding after school sessions to show families how to create healthy meals.

‘Alarming’ Jill Corbett, health improvement project manager for Hampshire Primary Care Trust, said: “These figures are still alarming. It is going to take time to make the changes, but parents ultimately want to do what’s best for their children and I am positive that by tackling it as a family rather then individual children we will get there.”

The work comes under the Government’s healthy living campaign called Change4Life where whole families are being encouraged to make healthier choices.