London, Apr 7 (IANS): British experts have advised parents to remove televisions from children's bedrooms in a bid to combat record obesity rates being observed among youngsters.

According to academics involved in an EC-funded project, nurseries need to ban toddlers from watching programmes in a bid to prevent a growing number of children from starting school dangerously overweight, the Daily Mail reported.

Obesity among European pre-schoolers is at record levels, the 'ToyBox' survey found.

Yannis Manios, assistant professor at Harokopio University, Athens, who is co-ordinating the project, said: "We need a new approach to prevent obesity... We found that many countries are lacking clear guidelines on healthy eating and active play.

"However, there is good evidence linking sedentary behaviour, such as television watching, with subsequent obesity."

In Britain, over a fifth are overweight or obese by the time they start school, according to official figures. Academics have found nearly 40 percent of pre-school girls in Spain are now classified as overweight or obese.

The four-year study also found from more than one in eight children being overweight in northern Europe rising to over 25 percent in parts of southern Europe.