EDINBURGH (AP) -- Scots children are among the fattest in the developed world, according to figures from the Scottish Executive.

Only Italy and Malta have a higher number of overweight youngsters, an NHS Scotland report published yesterday revealed.

One in five 12-year-olds in Scotland are clinically obese -– double the previous estimate –- the figures show.

This compares with England and Wales and America, where one in seven 15-year-olds are obese, the Scottish Executive’s health watchdog found.

The report also reveals that one in 10 Scots children aged 12 are classed as severely obese and one in three is overweight.

This compares with France and Sweden, where only 18% are overweight and Germany, where the figure is 15%.

In the Netherlands 13% of children are overweight and in Slovakia the figure is 10%, according to the research.

The figures reveal a far worse obesity problem than was indicated in a previous study, which found just one in 10 Scots primary school pupils to be obese.

The Clinical Outcome Indicators report published yesterday, by NHS Quality Improvement Scotland, focuses on obesity rates in children of secondary school age.

The chief medical officer for Scotland said that the obesity epidemic was down to life choices.

Dr. Mac Armstrong said: “The report highlights serious problems. It’s not so much a wake-up call as an alarm bell which every single one of us should heed.

“Issues like obesity and smoking during pregnancy are fundamentally about people and the choices they make as individuals and parents. “We can only reduce the levels of obesity if people make the choices that promote their own health.”

The Scottish Executive launched a multi-million pound healthy eating campaign in January to try to tackle the obesity epidemic.

But less than 1% of Scots have contacted the healthy living helpline in the nine months following its launch.