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Teachers have been advised to monitor the weight of pupils as part of plans to reduce the risk of obesity.

The recommendation comes after research revealed the number of British children with weight problems has almost doubled in the last decade with one in five classed as overweight. Poor diets which lead to obesity have been closely linked to poverty.

Professor Peto, head of epidemiology at the Institute of Cancer Research, said that a child's body mass index could be included in school’s annual reports on a pupil.

“Weighing and measuring children once a year would not require specialist equipment. Nor would it involve an extra burden on teachers,” he added.

Peto said that while many parents did not want to accept to the fact that their child was overweight a teacher can provide an objective view about a pupils' weight.