Parents of clinically obese five-year-olds will be sent warning letters under a new government scheme.

The notifications will be part of a tough new stance to tackle rising levels of obesity, following a national initiative to weigh all children in schools.

Ministers including Health Secretary Alan Johnson are preparing to face accusations of stigmatising fat children over the plan but believe it is in the children’s best interest if a problem is formally brought to the attention of their parents.

The Government has made children the focus of its plans to tackle obesity amid fears that the problem is growing into an epidemic.

Regular weighing of primary school children in England and Wales was reintroduced two years ago to identify regional and national trends.

According to the most recent statistics, more than 25 per cent of preschool children are now overweight.

The number of obese children in Britain has doubled since 1982.

More than 80 per cent of obese 10- to 14-year-olds remain obese into adulthood…

Source: This is London, UK
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