Childhood obesity in the UK has increased dramatically over the past tenyears, a new study has found. The survey, published this week in the BritishMedical Journal, looked at thousands of boys and girls over a period of twentyyears in England and Scotland, aged between four and 11. While the proportionof overweight or obese children remained steady between 1974 and 1984, therefollowed a startling increase between 1984 and 1994. The report's authors,from King's College in London, concluded these problems would probably producelarger numbers of overweight and obese adults in the coming years. If this isthe case, the potential health problem is immense for the public health system.