OBESITY-related hospital admissions - which can include diabetes, strokes and heart disease - have soared in Suffolk over the last three years, new figures have revealed.

The sharpest increases between 2009 and 2011 came with children under 12 but the over 60s and adult women also saw large rises.

Health experts said Suffolk was starting to see the “snowball effects” of obesity with health conditions related to being overweight appearing earlier and earlier.

It comes as rising levels of obesity were blamed for an increase in the number of women dying from cancer of the womb.

The figures, released by NHS Suffolk, detail hospital admissions where obesity was either a primary, secondary or third-level diagnosis.

Despite numbers being small it was children under 12 that saw the biggest increases between 2009 and 2011. Girls went up fivefold from zero to five, while boys in the same age group more than doubled, from four to nine.

Meanwhile the number of obese 10-11 year olds in Suffolk - as measured by the National Child Measurement Programme in schools - rose from 15.3% in 2009/10 to 16.8% in 2010/11.

Expert Dr Cara Booker, senior research officer at the University of Essex, said childhood obesity was down to a number of factors including parents feeding their children something that is quick and what they want - rather than something that is healthy - and time constraints which mean they might not want their children to be out playing for hours on end.

She added: “All these things add up and if you have an obese child it’s difficult to say to them they should have certain foods or that they cannot play video games like other children.

“You’re starting to see the snowball effects of more and more conditions coming up at an earlier stage.

“I think it’s a growing problem and I think that if we don’t try and keep it down as much as possible it’s going to have large effects for society in the future.”

Michael Hattrell, health improvement manager for NHS Suffolk, said: “It’s disappointing but at the same time nationally and the east of England wise we’re still performing really well.

“We know there’s an issue and figures like these only point out that people need to realise and change their lifestyles.

“We’re finding that the levels are still rising and we’re trying to stabilise the figures. It’s all about raising awareness about the services available.”

Mr Hattrell added the cost of obesity to the NHS was �2bn in 2002. He said the Foresight report, by a team of eminent scientists, estimated that would balloon to �45bn by 2050.

Number of Admissions with a primary, secondary or tertiary diagnosis of Obesity (E66) for Suffolk Patients 2009-2011

Sex Age Band 2009 2010 2011

Male 0-12 4 10 9

Male 13-17 4 2 6

Male 18-35 23 24 30

Male 36-59 115 124 149

Male 60+ 85 72 122

Female 0-12 0 12 5

Female 13-17 5 5 3

Female 18-35 68 130 130

Female 36-59 192 238 252

Female 60+ 80 114 143