FIGURES published this week show the Furness area has some of the highest rates of obesity among Reception-aged children in England.

Data from the National Child Measurement Programme for England shows 31.3 per cent of children aged between four and five in Barrow are overweight or obese - the highest proportion in the country.

The town also has the highest number of children in their first year of school measured to be obese, at 14.5 per cent.

Published by NHS Digital, the study collected data on the body mass index in children from all state schools in the country for the school year 2016-17. Nationally, 22.6 per cent of four to five-year-olds were found to be obese or overweight, and 9.6 per cent to be obese.

Cumbria is worryingly well-represented in the higher reaches of the rankings, with Carlisle second only to Barrow with 31 per cent of four to five-year-olds overweight or obese, and Allerdale fourth in England with 28.3 per cent.

The statistics for Copeland also bring cause for concern, with 27.6 per cent of Reception-aged children in the area overweight or obese, and 12 per cent considered to be obese.

A spokesman for Cumbria County Council said the authority's public health team commissions the National Child Measurement Programme, which involves measuring the height and weight of children in Reception and Year Six, and "supports the considerable promotion of physical activity through the work of Active Cumbria".

Active Cumbria is responsible for increasing participation in sport and physical activity across all age groups throughout the county.

Joanna Coleman, the organisation's marketing and communications Officer, outlined the organisation's approach to combating the issue.

"By encouraging more walking and other free-to-do activities, we're trying to engage children, schools and families and change the perception of what exercise actually is.

"There's the 100 Mile Challenge, that challenges all pupils to complete and record 100 miles of physical activity during the academic year.

"Change4Life initiative promotes '10 Minute Shake Ups', fun, short activities that are led by Disney characters and designed to get children doing physical activity every day.

"We're also working on a new tracker that provides a simple and effective way to measure participation and achievement in physical activity in and beyond the curriculum."

The study identified a strong relationship between poverty and obesity - prevalence for children living in the most deprived areas was more than double that of those living in the least deprived areas for both Reception and Year Six.

Action for Children is a national charity that helps vulnerable and neglected children and young people, and families.

As a regional director, Lisa Scott is at the forefront of helping poorer families adopt a healthier lifestyle.

She said: "The difficulty with obesity in children is that it's quite a complex issue - when children are either overweight or underweight there can be various reasons why.

"There's obviously healthy eating and exercise to consider, but also poverty, affordability, emotional health and wellbeing.

"We look at the data regularly, and obesity has been quite high in Barrow for some time. There are many issues surrounding poverty, deprivation, domestic violence in the area that can all have an impact on the weight of children.

"Thankfully, we're here to provide a range of programmes to help children lead a more healthy lifestyle."

These targeted programmes include the Health, Exercise and Nutrition for the Really Young campaign to help families with babies and young children adopt a healthier lifestyle, and the Holiday Kitchen, which helps families learn how to prepare healthy meals and to eat well over the holiday periods.

"The Holiday Kitchen has been a huge success, and has now gained funding from the Cumbria Children and Young People's Working Group," she added.

"Smart Start is a nationally-devised programme that we've embedded into our services to support children to have more exercise, but it's also about promoting better health and wellbeing generally and involving the parents to take a whole family approach."