London - One in 10 of the world's schoolchildren is overweight, and about 45 million of them have an increased risk of developing diabetes, heart disease and other illnesses before they are out of their teens, according to the first global assessment of child obesity.
In South Africa, 25 percent of teenage girls are too fat - similar to the average in the United States, which has one of the world's biggest obesity problems.
The report, compiled by the International Obesity Task Force, estimates that at least 155 million, or 10 percent, of children between the ages of five and 17 are too heavy, and almost 45 million of them are obese.
The findings were submitted to the World Health Organisation ahead of a critical vote by the world's health ministers next week on the adoption of a global strategy on diet, physical activity and health.
The strategy, which the United Nations' health agency has been developing for two years, aims to head off a worldwide crisis in chronic diseases linked to bad eating habits and lack of exercise.
A third of all deaths globally are from ailments linked to weight, lack of exercise and smoking. Worldwide, the number of fat people outstrips the number of hungry people.
The prevalence of overweight people is dramatically higher in rich countries, but developing countries are quickly catching up and rates are rising almost everywhere.
While in some developing countries childhood obesity is most dominant among the wealthy, it is also rising among the urban poor.
The International Obesity Task Force, a coalition of independent obesity scientists and research organisations, have called on the World Health Organisation to help countries develop national obesity action plans, with the prevention of childhood obesity a priority.
"This report is the result of one of the most comprehensive collaborations between experts in the paediatric field, all seriously concerned about what is happening to children throughout the world," said one of the report's authors, Dr Ricardo Uauy, chairperson of Public Health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. "We really cannot afford to delay any longer."
Actions that could be taken include providing more opportunities for exercise and play, limiting television viewing and restricting junk food advertising directed at children, Uauy said.
- On the internet: International Obesity Task Force www.iotf.org/- Sapa-AFP