More babies being born medically obese

More babies are being born obese with 1,403 being classified as "significantly overweight" in the past four years.

Figures obtained by the Sunday Mirror revealed the biggest babies were born in West Yorkshire.

The Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust reported 372 obese or "macrosomic" babies, weighing 9lbs 15oz or over, being born since 2011.

The average baby weight is 7lb 4oz for a girl and 7lb 8oz for a boy.

Obesity campaigners have described the figures, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, as "horrendous".

Tam Fry, of the National Obesity Forum, told the paper: "I am not surprised but I am hugely saddened.

"It's a vicious circle because the fat mother is going to produce a fat child who is going to grow up into a fat adult who is going to produce their own fat child. It just goes round and round and round."

The statistics also showed more than 109,000 under-15s had been admitted to hospital for obesity-related issues in the same period.

Apart from genetics, factors causing macrosomic babies include mothers being obese or having conditions such as diabetes.