A Tory MP and former minister has warned that Britain's childhood obesity crisis risks creating an "unemployable underclass" unless the Government takes urgent action.

Andrew Selous said that obese children become adults with a low self-image, low self-confidence and will struggle to find themselves jobs as a result.

He told MPs during a parliamentary debate: “Unlike any time in history, it is now the poorest children who are the most overweight.

A third of children leaving primary school are overweight or obese, with obesity twice as prevalent among children in the most deprived social groups.

"We cannot allow an unemployable underclass to grow up. Children who are obese go on into adult life being obese, have a low self-image, low self-confidence and struggle to get work as a result.

“We are talking about a lifetime of opportunity [that is being missed] if we don't grasp this issue.”