CHILDREN in Manchester are being measured to help clothes shops draw up new sizes to fit the ballooning number of overweight kids.

Researchers at Manchester Metropolitan University are helping in the first major study on the shape of youngsters for nearly 20 years.

Complaints

It follows complaints from parents that shops need to increase waist sizes and other measurements to reflect the size of today's children.

Next, Monsoon and Asda, whose George brand is Britain's biggest clothing retailer, want the measurements of thousands of boys and girls to ensure their future fashions fit.

Experts

MMU experts will measure about 400 children, aged four to 17, at a number of city schools over the next month.

They will use a hi-tech body scanner to check dozens of measurements. The booth-like machine can take more than 200 measurements, ranging from height to the length of individual arms and legs, in six seconds.

Sessions

Children will attend scanning sessions with their parents and volunteer families will receive a £10 shopping voucher.

Researcher Claire Culliney, a lecturer in clothing technology, said a survey into the average shape and size of children was long overdue.

She said: "There hasn't been a large-scale study of children's sizes since the early 90s. One concern is that children are taller and broader and one of the reasons is obesity.

'Complex'

"It isn't just waist and chest measurements, because children of the same age can be different heights and builds. It's much more complex than adult clothing.

"Once the data is collected, work will begin on working out average sizes of children. I think it will result in clothes which better fit today's children."

Other screenings will take place in Loughborough and Hertfordshire, as part of the survey of 6,000 youngsters.

The number of obese children has risen by a third in a decade. Health experts have warned that if current trends continue, nine out of 10 children will be obese by 2050.

Children's clothes are normally sold by age ranges - there is no commonly-agreed size for retailers, with many having widely-varying measurements for the same age group.