A study of Irish obese patients has found that those with the most severe degree of obesity were those who became overweight before the age of 10.

According to the Obesity Research Group, which is made up of researchers from St Vincent’s and St Columcille’s Hospitals in Dublin, one in four Irish adults is obese and the number of people with ‘extreme’ obesity is increasing at an alarming rate.

Extreme obesity refers to people with a body mass index (BMI) greater than 50. A healthy BMI is between 20 and 25.

‘Extreme’ obesity on the increase