Obesity experts have warned that children eat 4 times as many calories as they should on Christmas Day, with the typical 5-year old girl eating 6,000 calories.

This is more than twice the number of calories recommended for an adult male and 3 times as much as an adult female.

At study carried out at Leeds Metropolitan University, found that an average Christmas dinner can contain 956 calories and 48g of fat.

A typical Chrismas dinner was categorised as including:

• Roast turkey (90g) - 149 calories
• Roast potatoes (85g) - 127 calories
• Stuffing (100g) - 231 calories
• Bread sauce (45g) - 42 calories
• Roast parsnips (90g) - 102 calories
• Boiled carrots - 14 calories
• Boiled Brussels sprouts - 32 calories
• Gravy (50g) - 17 calories
• Cranberry sauce (30g) - 45 calories
• Pork sausage (20g) - 62 calories
• Bacon (40g) - 135 calories

Children were as said to eat extra treats on Christmas Day, which included:

• 1 slice of Christmas cake (70g) - 249 calories
• 1 portion of chocolate log (30g) - 101 calories
• 1 portion of cheese and biscuits - 394 calories
• 1 portion of mixed nuts (40g) - 243 calories
• 1 portion Christmas pudding (100g), custard and brandy butter - 587 calories
• 1 mince pie and double cream - 368 calories
• 3 Quality Streets - 133 calories
• 5 Chocolate Fingers - 150 calories
• Average Selection Box - 1,111 calories

This comes at a time when government and health officals are warning parents to take a greater interest in the weight of their children after research by the Carnegie Weight Management found that parents blamed obesity in their children on with puppy fat (16 percent), genetics (14 percent) and a lower than normal metabolism (11 percent).

Obesity experts are warning that half of all fat 5 year olds will grow up to obese adults.