Nearly a third of primary school children in Kent are overweight or obese, new figures have revealed.

Nearly one in five (18.4%) Year 6 pupils in the area covered by Kent County Council were obese between 2014/15 and 2016/17 - with 32.9% classed as having “excess weight”.

Meanwhile, 23.3% of reception-aged children were described as having “excess weight”, with 9.5% said to be obese.

Trend data from the National Child Measurement Programme, published yesterday, shows 34.4% of pupils in Medway in Year 6 had “excess weight” while a further 20.6% were said to be obese.

Meanwhile, 22% of reception-aged children in the same period were described as having “excess weight,” with 9.1% being obese.

All of Kent's figures have increased year-on-year apart from obese children in Year 6, which is the same as 2013/14-2015/16.

Kent County Council's deputy director of public health Allison Duggal said: “It is important to tackle obesity across the county and through a whole system of services.

"We support national initiatives such as Change4Life and One You plus a range of services and activities are underway across the county including campaigns like Sugar Smart, Active10 and encouraging school programmes that promote a healthy lifestyle.

"Midwives, health visitors, children’s centre staff and the school health service have a crucial role in the Healthy Child programme which is aimed at giving every child the best start in life.

"The best way to tackle obesity is to eat a healthy, reduced-calorie diet and to exercise regularly..." - Allison Duggal, Kent County Council

"The best way to tackle obesity is to eat a healthy, reduced-calorie diet and to exercise regularly.

"Our local priorities focus on changeable factors such as helping families to improve poor diets and help for those who need to lose and maintain a healthy weight.

"We also have evidence that Kent’s adult population is becoming more inactive and it’s imperative that we act early to raise awareness of the services and local activities available to help them change their behaviours.

"We will continue to work with schools, local partners and providers on universal and targeted interventions to improve nutrition, increase physical activity and improve the self-esteem of children.”

The percentages have increased across the board in the Medway Towns year-on-year.

Cllr David Brake (Con), portfolio holder for public health at Medway Council, said: “We are not complacent in Medway.

“We run a number of initiatives including specialist weight loss support programmes for children and their families, and bespoke workshops to help parents gain new skills to prepare healthy meals.

“Tackling childhood obesity requires both local and national action, and our work in this area is often referenced as best practice.

“In addition, we organise a range of sporting activities for schools and we offer free swimming in all Medway sports centres for under-16s to encourage children to become more active.

“We are committed to improving outcomes for all our children and we will continue to work with our schools, local universities, the NHS and other stakeholders, to support parents to help children live healthier lifestyles.”

Medway Council says the rate of children found to be overweight in Medway fell from 22.5% to 21.8% between 2008/9 and 2015/16, before the recent increase.

The authority is launching new initiatives in 2018, including a Medway Sugar Smart Campaign.

It has already banned new hot takeaways from opening between noon and 2pm, as well as 3pm and 5pm, if it is within 400m of a primary or secondary school.

Children have their height and weight measured each year when they enter primary school and when they leave junior school.