A BRISTOL expert has advised that surgery should be the last resort in treating obese children.

Professor Debbie Lawlor said that diet and exercise should be the first treatment for youngsters, followed by drugs if it is not successful.

She said surgery should only be considered for the most severely obese children, in a seminar due to be published in the Lancet medical journal.

Data has shown that the numbers of obese children have more than doubled since the 1970s, with 27 per cent of children in Europe believed to be overweight or obese. Although recent statistics suggest that childhood obesity rates in the UK could now be stabilising.

Prof Lawlor and colleagues from the United States said childhood obesity can have adverse effects on almost every organ system in the body and often has serious consequences such as liver disease and diabetes.

They found that in 90 per cent of children obesity is a result of more calories being taken in than used.

Experts believe that prevention is the best way to halt the growing obesity problem and that in very young children parents should be targeted to deal with the issue with guidance about offering appropriate food portions.

Prof Lawlor said: "The obesity epidemic is probably the result of our evolutionary legacy interacting with our technologically advanced and consumerist society."