PARENTS should allow underweight children to be messy with their food, experts have said.

Families should eat together and encourage "relaxed and enjoyable" mealtimes according to new guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE).

It is designed to help recognise and manage slow weight gain in infants and children, also known as faltering growth.

Professor Mary Fewtrell, nutrition lead at the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, added: "Mealtimes can be an ordeal for families - particularly if there's a child who is underweight and a fussy eater.

"Things like making mealtimes as relaxed as possible, trying not to get into a battle over food and giving children as much choice as possible can all help.

"If children find mealtimes fun from a young age, they're less likely to be fussy later on."

According to data collected from primary schools in England as part of the National Child Measurement Programme, in 2015/16, 1% of children starting school were underweight.

The NICE guidance states that "simple interventions" can increase nutritional intake and may be effective in improving weight gain.

It also advises parents that drinking too many energy-dense drinks, including milk, can reduce a child's appetite for other foods.

Dietitian Dr Frankie Phillips, of the British Dietetic Association, said: "Whilst it is very worrying that so many children are showing faltering growth, we are also seeing far too many children with excessive weight gain.

"Getting hands on with food - whether that is using food for messy play, experimenting with new textures and tastes and helping with food preparation - can all help to achieve a love of good food and the social experiences that help to make up an enjoyable mealtime."