The US data was based on a survey of over 8,000 children aged between two and 19.

The Journal of the American Medical Association report comes after the obesity rate has been rising for three decades.

One theory for the trend is that public health campaigns aimed at raising awareness of the problem and improving school meals have had a positive impact.

Another suggestion is that there has been a natural levelling off related to the proportion of the population who are susceptible to obesity.

The US chain Dunkin' Donuts has pulled an advert following complaints that the scarf worn by a celebrity chef offered symbolic support for Islamic extremism.

The online advert for iced coffee featured the well-known

The scientist who coined the term "global warming" in the 1970s has proposed a radical solution to the problem of climate change.

Wallace Broecker advocated millions of "carbon scrubbers" - giant artificial trees to pull CO2 from the air.