Obesity 'set before age of five'

Childhood obesity is determined before the age of five, new research revealed today.

Most excess weight is gained by a child before they start school and one in four children in England aged four to five are overweight, according to the latest figures.

The EarlyBird Diabetes study of 233 infants from birth to puberty also found that today's children are fatter than those of the 1980s, the BBC reported.

The authors of the Plymouth-based study suggested that childhood obesity should be prevented before children reach their fifth birthday.