One in 10 school starters are obese

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The statistics are part of a breakdown of the nation's health designed to help people live longer and happier lives.

It is the first time figures, which highlight the "health gap" between the affluent and the poor, have been broken down by each local health authority.

They showed obesity among reception-year children, aged four to five, averaged just under 10% - with Teesdale in County Durham having the lowest rate (5%) and Hackney in London the highest (16%).

Government figures released in February showed nearly a quarter of children aged four to five (22.9%) and almost a third of 10 to 11-year-olds (31.6%) was obese or overweight.

But the true figure could be much higher - as parents can elect to "opt out" of having their children weighed at school.

The Health Profiles, published online, were prepared for every local authority and region across England by the Department of Health and the Association of Public Health Observatories. Health chiefs said they would help the NHS and local authorities to target their resources more effectively.

And they showed the health gap between the most affluent and most deprived wards within each local authority remained unacceptable, public health minister Dawn Primarolo said.

"Inequalities around the country are stark, but the NHS and Local Authorities can use these profiles to target local health hotspots with effective measures to make a real difference," she said.

In addition to the figures detailing child obesity, the profiles revealed an average of 86% of children aged five to 16 gain at least two hours sport or PE a week.