New statistics from the Health & Social Care Information Centre found that in 2014, 58% of women and 65% of men were overweight or obese, with obesity prevalence increasing from 15% in 1993 to 26% in 2014.
One in five children in reception and one in three children in year six were measured as overweight or obese in 2014/15, with children in the most deprived areas twice as likely to be obese than children in least deprived areas.
Cllr Izzi Seccombe, community wellbeing spokersperson for the Local Government Association, said: “These are extremely worrying figures that illustrate the scale of the challenge we face in the fight against obesity. But the problem will only get worse unless we take urgent action, with the number of obese adults in the country forecast to soar by a staggering 73 per cent to 26 million people over the next 20 years
"The fact that the number of obesity-related hospital admissions for children has more than doubled since 2004/5 underlines why it is vital that the Government uses its forthcoming childhood obesity strategy to address what is now one of the major health dangers of the 21st century.
"Obesity leads to serious health conditions later on in life, such as heart disease, cancer and diabetes, and is costing the NHS around £5 billion a year.
"Councils have long been calling for action to tackle obesity, such as clearer labelling of sugar content, calorie counts on menus, and sugar reduction in soft drinks. We cannot delay tackling this issue any longer."
To read the full HSCIC report, click here.