MUMS are being urged to breast-feed their babies in a Research has shown breast really is best as babies who are given their mother's milk, rather than being bottle fed, are 15 per cent less likely to be obese at the age of 15.

In Bolton, 25 per cent of four and five-year-olds are overweight or obese, and almost 30 per cent of 10 and 11-year-olds desperately need to lose weight.

Chris Jordan, specialist health visitor for breast-feeding at Bolton Primary Care Trust (PCT), said: "There is evidence that babies who are breast fed for a prolonged period of time, at least four months, will have greater protection against obesity and are 15 per cent less likely to be obese by the time they are 15."

Her calls are backed by a 1999 study carried out by the British Medical Journal, which found 4.5 per cent of bottle-fed babies were obese by the time they reached five or six-years-old, compared to 2.8 per cent of babies given only breast milk.

In Bolton, 61 per cent of new mums in the borough breast-feed their child from birth compared to a national average of 85 per cent.

This figure drops to 28 per cent when the baby is six weeks old.

PCT chiefs weighed and measured reception class children and pupils in Year Six last year. The results showed Bolton has growing problems with childhood obesity.

Schemes are already up and running, including the healthy schools programme, which promotes healthy eating and physical activity.

And plans to treat overweight and obese children by helping them change their behaviour are to be launched.

A series of breast-feeding support groups have been set up across Bolton in the past 12 months in a bid to encourage mums to breast-feed.