Greek children aged 7 and 9 have the highest average body weight among 16 European countries surveyed by the World Health Organization, according to data made public Tuesday.

Just under 49 per cent of 7-year-old Greek boys and nearly 45 per cent of girls the same age are overweight, according to the figures released this week by the Hellenic Medical Association for Obesity to mark the start of obesity awareness week.

The picture is even worse for 9-year-old boys as 57.2 percent of them are overweight, while the same applies to half of the girls in this age group.

The data show that the problem is more pronounced in low-income families.

Source: Kathimerini