Almost nine in 10 people in Ireland are expected to be overweight or obese by 2030, new figures from the World Health Organization (WHO) have revealed.

According to the figures, if things do not change, Ireland will be the most obese country in Europe.

The figures, which have not yet been published, were presented at the European Congress on Obesity in Prague. They show that by 2030, the proportion of Irish men who are obese is expected to jump from 26% to 48%, while the proportion of those who are overweight or obese, will jump from 74% to 89%.

Meanwhile obesity rates among women are set to jump from 23% to 57%, while 85% of women are expected to be overweight or obese by 2030.

The findings were based on data from 53 countries, and other countries also expected to record steep increases in weight include Spain, Greece and Sweden.

Commenting on the findings, one of the researchers, Prof Laura Webber of the UK Health Forum in London, noted that ‘this is part of a wider trend across Europe'.

"There is no one reason for it. We are living in an increasingly obesogenic environment where it is a lot easier to eat too much and move too little and that needs to be addressed," she said.

Meanwhile, speaking on RTÉ radio about this issue, obesity expert, Prof Donal O'Shea, suggested that one reason for these worrying figures is because physical activity ‘has gone off a cliff edge, particularly for adolescents and adolescent girls'.

He also pointed towards the unregulation of ‘high-fat, high-sugar and high-salt foods', which he believes are 'poisoning' children. An example of this, he said, was the fact that some children can leave their school during their lunch break and ‘go to a garage forecourt to buy a chicken fillet roll or a breakfast roll that contains their total daily calorie requirement'.

He insisted that people need to know their own weight and know what weight they should be.

He said that simple steps people can begin to take are cutting out ‘liquid calories', such as sugar-sweetened drinks, and building more physical activity into their day.

"People should be active for at least an hour a day, every day," he added.