Parents will be sent warning letters if their children are found to be severely overweight under a new plan drawn up to tackle Britain's obesity problem.

   Primary school children in England and Wales are already weighed when they start school at five years of age and leave at 10, but parents are not routinely informed of the results.

   Under new plans being considered by the Department of Health, all parents would be automatically informed of their child's measurements and warned about any signs of obesity.

   Health Secretary Alan Johnson is expected to announce details of the plan next month.

   "The program is a vital part of engaging with children and families about healthy lifestyles and weight issues," a government spokeswoman said.

   "We need to take this further and help parents to understand the importance of healthy weight for their families."

   The move comes a week after a new report warned that 60 per cent of men, half of all women and 26 per cent of children in Britain would be obese by 2050 if current trends continued.

   Already, it is believed that between a quarter and a third of children are overweight.

   Opinion is divided over whether the government's latest weapon to tackle the nation's growing obesity problem could end up stigmatising overweight children and their parents.

   The National Obesity Forum's spokesman Tam Fry said while the government's move was welcome, it should promote the benefits of healthy eating much earlier than primary school.

   "It's a good thing in the sense that if the government expects parents to (have) prime responsibility for the raising of their children, it is absolutely essential that they should know what the healthy range of weight is," he told BBC TV.

   "We would think, in fact, this whole thing has got to start earlier.

   "If you start earlier, around the age of two and three from nursery, then you've got the time to start to implant the healthy eating, healthy exercise education, which will then carry them through school." 

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