CHUBBY children go on to be healthier in later life, a North-East study has revealed.

Parents concerned about children piling on the pounds should not worry because it does not necessarily mean they will become fat adults.

People who were slightly overweight as children and grew up to be slim adults were the healthiest in a survey of more than 1,100 people on Tyneside.

The worst case scenario is for a skinny child to become overweight in later life, with girls adversely affected more than boys.

Dr Louise Parker, an epidemiologist at Newcastle University, said: "We don't want skinny children. We particularly don't want skinny girls. Puppy fat is cool, let's have more chubby babies and children. You get these horror stories of girls of nine dieting but puberty and puppy fat go together," she said.

The study, Implications of Childhood Obesity for Adult Health, involved monitoring the lives of 1,142 people from 1947 onwards.

Dr Parker, who is based in the university's child health department, said: "We found that people who were overweight as children were not more likely to become an overweight adult. The weight of the child did not bear any relation on how that person developed in terms of their weight as an adult.

"But what we did find was that in terms of health profile at the age of 50, people with the best health were chubby as children and slim as adults," she said.