PARENTS are taking their children to see a personal trainer as figures show a 10 per cent rise in obese 10 to 11-year-olds.

An annual programme where children are weighed at primary school found 16.9 per cent in Year 6 were classed as obese in 2013/14.

That is the highest since records began in 2006/07, when 15.3 per cent of children in that year group were deemed to be obese.

In Oxford, more than one in five, 21.3 per cent, were classed as obese based on age, height and weight.

Mum-of-two Kate Bennett, a personal trainer, said: “People are now starting to bring their children to training sessions.

“I have quite a few children that are 13 and 12 – the youngest is 10. They come with their parents to do a bit of cardio workout. They are worried about them. Some of them are a little bit over where they should be.”

Woodstock’s Mrs Bennett, 40, said some youngsters spurned sport as they got towards 10 as “they are more worried about how they are going to look.”

Having their own money allows them to buy unhealthy food, said Mrs Bennett, who is mum to Verity, seven and Tristan, five.

Cooking with children and sport are key to improving lifestyles she said and healthier food like chicken can be “reasonable” in price.

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Figures show the current proportion of overweight reception children – aged four and five – and in year 6, and obese year 6 children, is higher than in 2006/07.

It comes despite efforts by public bodies to tackle concerns about childhood obesity. Oxfordshire County Council – responsible for public health since April 2013 – has held information stands at events like Cowley Road Carnival.

Publicly funded Oxfordshire Sports Partnership was set up in 2006 to make it “the most active and sporty community in the country by 2017”.

The Government’s Change4Life information campaign began in 2008 and the council has funded a nurse in every secondary school since September.

East Oxford’s Oxford Spires Academy headteacher Sue Croft praised the attempts to tackle the problem and said nutrition is taught in lessons and canteen food has improved. Yet the family played a vital role, she said.

“Some families are really good at cooking fresh,” she added. “With other families, there is more processed food.”

Sandra Ruge, catering manager at Donnington Doorstep Family Centre, Donnington, uses fresh vegetables to promote healthy eating for under-fives.

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She said: “Sometimes families see vegetables they have never seen because they don’t buy them. They are not used to cooking, they don’t know what to do with them.”

Oxford East Labour MP Andrew Smith said educating families was key with “more physical exercise in schools and making it safer for children to walk or cycle to school”.

Council consultant in public health Dr Rebecca Cooper said the county was better than the average for England, where 19.1 per cent of year 6 children are obese, on all measures but warned against “complacency”.

She said: “We know the key to reducing the numbers is finding more ways of encouraging families to make healthy choices.”

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