Childhood obesity is becoming a serious problem in Britain. So how can parents stop their children piling on the pounds? Health Reporter LUCY STEPHENS reports.

MANY people experience problems with their weight, and some are able to shed the pounds by changing their lives around, doing more exercise and eating healthier food.

But when it is children who are putting on the weight, it is sometimes more difficult for parents to stop them eating foods that are bad for them.

It can lead to furious rows between parents and children as the sugary foods, burgers and chips the youngsters love are taken away, and replaced with a non-stop regime of fruit and vegetables.

The levels of childhood obesity in Britain are becoming a real headache for the Government and the NHS, after a new report out this week revealed the target to halt the rising problem in under-11s by 2010 might not be met without clearer leadership.

According to the study, by the Healthcare Commission, the National Audit Office and Audit Commission, rates of childhood obesity grew from 9.6 per cent in 1995 to 13.7 per cent in 2003.

Obesity now costs the NHS about £1 billion a year and the UK economy a further £2.3 billion in indirect costs.

And if things carried on as they were, the annual cost to the economy could be £3.6 billion a year by 2010.

So how do people get fat?

Azizah Clayton is a nutritional therapist who has a private practice in Stockton Lane, York.

She explains how foods like burgers, pizzas and white bread- which contain highly refined white flour - and high-in-sugar sweets, chocolates and cakes cause obesity problems because they "spike" the blood with too much sugar.

The blood cannot have too much sugar - it only contains the equivalent of two teaspoons at any one time - so the body stores the extra glucose from unhealthy foods in fat cells.

Exercise can burn these away, but inactivity combined with unhealthy eating will inevitably lead to being overweight. Ms Clayton said: "Childhood obesity is extremely serious because you are laying the foundation for them to grow into adults who will have serious ill health."

So what should worried parents do to make their children slimmer, happier and healthier?

Azizah says a key tip for parents is introducing healthy food gradually into their children's diet, rather than an overnight change in regime which could alienate their offspring.

She said: "If you treat bad food as treats, it would be far better than treating it as every day food. You don't want to ban it completely.

"You can have your burgers or chips once or twice a week. With children who have eaten badly, you can't recommend a radical change, you probably want to introduce foods slowly and surely and just work hard at it.

"You don't want to ban the foods because they'll just eat them behind your back.

"You want to work with them rather than against them."

Updated: 10:57 Friday, March 03, 2006