Children play in a pool in Santiago, capital of Chile, on Dec. 14, 2016. (Xinhua/Jorge Villegas)

Severe obesity among schoolchildren is on the rise in Chile, the Ministry of Family and Social Development warned on Saturday.

The ministry presented a study, titled "Nutritional Map 2019" and compiled by the National School and Scholarships Auxiliary Board (Junaeb), which reports obesity among the youth increased 0.3 percentage points on average compared to the year before.

While the obesity rate appears to have stabilized nationwide, there is a "greater number of students with severe obesity whose body mass by far exceeds the norms and who have a much higher risk of suffering from metabolic diseases such as diabetes and hypertension," national director of the Junaeb Jaime Toha said.

"That is why we are working on a series of measures to improve the nutrition of our schoolchildren," including making school lunches healthier and more attractive, said Toha.

Head of the ministry Sebastian Sichel said, "The most important thing is that as a government we are concerned about an epidemic."

He added that "Chile's worst current epidemic is called obesity," and it mainly affects the poor in rural communities, "especially in southern Chile."