A national study into Australians' weight has found that more than 30,000 Aussie children could now be severely obese.
"The numbers on how many Australian children have severe obesity have never been crunched until now and our findings suggest we have underestimated the issue," Associate Professor Sarah Garnett from Sydney's Westmead Children's Hospital told the ABC.
The study looked at children aged seven to 15 from 1985 to 2012 and showed the obesity rate had dramatically increased since 2007.
Garnett said there were worries the problem was worse than reported because many kids were falling out of the research.
She reportedly said children who were severely obesity needed specialist medical care and put extra pressure on the health system.
"Failure to treat these children will have huge implications for the individual and our healthcare system in the years to come," she told the ABC.
"Currently there are not enough paediatric obesity services to look after these children."