OBESITY has reduced by seven per cent across Wiltshire in the last three years, but more than half of people are overweight across the county.

Wiltshire Council's Obesity Strategy for Wiltshire from 2016 is set to end this year but will now be renewed into the future.

57.6 per cent of adults are overweight or obese and for children in Wiltshire, 20.7 per cent of four to five year olds and a third, 28.2 per cent, of 11 to 15 year olds are overweight or obese.

Both figures are below national averages.

Steve Maddern, public health consultant at the authority said: “We felt we had quite an ambitious target to halt and reverse obesity while looking to tackle inequality. In three years we’ve managed to achieve the bulk of that. We’ve still got further work to do but we’ve seen a steady decline in children across the county.

GP Richard Sandford-Hill, co-chair of the health and well-being board, said: “There’s lots of work to do to tackle obesity. It’s a big problem in health that we see in GP practises everyday with increasing numbers of diabetics, heart disease and arthritis, the list is endless. It is good to note positive outcomes.”