FIVE children have been measured weighing more than 16 stone, new figures have revealed.

The statistics from the National Child Measurement Programme show that children - aged ten or 11 - weighed 16.8 stone, both in Redcar and Cleveland in 2009/10 and Stockton in both 2009/10 and 2011/12.

The average weight for a fully grown man in the UK is just over 13 stone, and 11 stone for women.

A spokeswoman for Redcar and Cleveland Council said that while health professionals, schools and local authorities all played a role, parents must support their child to maintain a healthy weight.

She said: “Redcar and Cleveland Council recognises that childhood obesity is a real priority and we are committed to making parents more aware of the serious health implications of overweight and obese children.”

The authority works with key partners and have introduced initiatives such as physical activity and healthy eating programmes in schools, as well as working with parents to better recognise unhealthy weight gain in their children.

It also delivers a range of programmes aimed at supporting children to get the best start in life.

“These include a wide range of packages and interventions to encourage and support mums to breastfeed which has been shown to reduce the risk of unhealthy weight gain in both the child and mother,” continued the spokeswoman.

“Free weight management services are available for children and we are supporting national campaigns such as Change4Life.

“However, we can’t tackle this issue by ourselves. Clearly health professionals, schools and local authorities have a role but most importantly, we need parents to support their children to grow up healthy

and happy and recognise when the unhealthy weight gain may be an issue and seek the right support.”