England is heading toward a health crisis that could see as many as 12 million adults and 1 million children categorized as obese by 2010 unless steps to reverse the current trend are successful.

Those figures work out to roughly 30 percent of adults and 20 percent of young people under 16. Three out of four men, and three out of five women will be either overweight or obese by 2010, according to the research.

For adults, obesity is defined as a body mass index over 30, while children aged 2-15 with a BMI over the 95th percentile are considered obese.

The estimates in the report, prepared for the Department of Health, assume that current trends will continue. English people are exercising less and consuming more junk food, it says. However, health advocates are proposing that the government take steps to promote lifestyle changes, including a ban on junk food advertising before 9:00 pm. Voluntary measures on the part of TV advertisers are not effective enough, they argue.

Despite efforts to provide more nutritious meals in schools -- such as lowering sugar and salt content -- the population's tendency to pile on pounds has continued unabated.

The rise in obesity is expected to result in a corresponding increase in type 2 diabetes, heart disease and cancer. The obesity "bill" for England's National Health Service is now more than Pounds 1 billion (US$1.9 billion).

One of the more sobering consequences of the obesity crisis is that the current generation of children in England could have shorter life expectancies than their parents.

The projected 2010 rates are similar to those already found in the US today, where an obesity crisis is acknowledged.

An estimated 30 percent of US adults aged 20 years and older -- over 60 million people -- are obese, while an estimated 65 percent of US adults aged 20 years and older are either overweight or obese, defined as having a BMI of 25 or higher, according to the Centers for Disease Control.