Overweight and obese patients cost the NHS in Kingston an estimated £41.1m a year, according to a Kingston Council report.

And the bill for weight-related diseases could rise to £44m by 2015.

The report will be debated by the council’s health and wellbeing board next week.

Council officers have asked the board to approve a new strategy aimed at reducing obesity and getting residents active.

The report also reveals 15 percent of year 6 pupils in Kingston’s schools are obese, compared to seven per cent of children in reception.

Those figures, from 2010-11, had remained roughly constant for five years.

Jo Carr, a public health program leader at Kingston Council said: “Obesity is and always will be a big issue.

"We do still have a worrisome increase between reception and year 6.

“One of our aims is to provide services that are accessible for all population groups.”

And she said previous public health efforts to curb obesity among the young had succeeded.

She said: “We have had success in that we have halted the rise. But there is still a lot more work to do.”

The report adds the council must target "the most disadvantaged communities within Kingston, addressing inequalities and access to healthy and active lifestyles".

Older people should be encouraged to exercise and helped to live more independently, it adds.

Councillor Margaret Thompson, lead member for healthy living, said beating obesity was one of the council’s priorities.

A new leaflet called Healthy Lifestyle Services in Kingston will be available in libraries, schools, and GP surgeries, in the near future.

For more information about healthy living and related services in the borough, call 0800 0288694.

The council’s health and wellbeing board will meet on Thursday, June 13, at 6.30pm in the Guildhall.

To view the agenda, visit kingston.gov.uk.