Wolverhampton second in England for obese 11-year-olds

And the rest of the Black Country is also far above the national average.

Some 26.2 per cent of children leaving primary school in Wolverhampton are obese.

Only Southwark in London has more with 26.4 per cent.

This is compared to 24.5 per cent in Sandwell, 24.4 per cent in Walsall and 24.3 per cent in Dudley.

The average across England is 19 per cent, with figures for Staffordshire and Worcestershire just below that at 18 per cent and 18.5 per cent respectively.

The research shows that children as young as five are struggling with their weight, with 12.5 per cent of five-year-olds in Wolverhampton being classed as obese, against a national average of 9.5 per cent.

There are 11.7 per cent of five-year-olds classed as obese in Dudley, compared to 11.1 per cent in Walsall, 10.9 per cent in Sandwell, 9.7 per cent in Staffordshire and 9.6 per cent in Worcestershire.

Just more than half - 56 per cent - of 11-year-olds in Wolverhampton are a healthy weight, with 59.9 per cent in Dudley, 58.4 per cent in Sandwell and 58 per cent in Walsall - with a national average of 65 per cent.

The figures were collected by the Health and Social Care Information Centre as part of a nationwide study. More than 58,000 children took part in the West Midlands alone.

Health bosses in Wolverhampton last year made tackling the city's obesity crisis their top priority.

A year ago it emerged that almost 70 per cent of adults in Wolverhampton are overweight or obese.

Jane DeVille-Almond, who is a senior health lecturer at the University of Wolverhampton and also chairs the British Obesity Society, said: "We need to tug at the heartstrings of parents.

"We've got a generation of kids who haven't watched their parents cook meals or families sit down to eat together.

"That needs to change."

Wolverhampton council health boss Councillor Sandra Samuels said: "As well as having a very high proportion of overweight adults in the city, it's particularly worrying that so many of our young people are now becoming obese.

"The situation is nearly at a tipping point right now but it is not too late to get something done.

"If we work together in moving forward then it is not impossible to change this situation."