Teaching parents to be stricter could reverse the obesity epidemic among young children, a groundbreaking scheme has shown.

After offering parenting classes, Leeds is the first English city to report a fall in the number of youngsters developing weight problems.

Research involving ­Oxford University found that the eight-week programme showing parents how to "take charge" has been linked to a significant drop in obesity levels.

The scheme, which costs councils £50 per family, is aimed particularly at ­deprived areas.

Ministers have said efforts to prevent obesity in ­toddlers will form a central part of a Green Paper this summer. The Government's ­former obesity tsar said the results were "astonishing".