Children.- Could PEANUT BUTTER be the key to fighting obesity? Snacking on peanuts 3/4 times a week, helps lower BMI

• Snacking on peanut butter or peanuts up to four times a week can help lower a person's body mass index (BMI), experts found
• Eating the snack after school 'stopped children choosing unhealthy food'
• Experts warn many children gorge on junk food because they skip meals 

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Furthermore, youngsters who adhered to the snack schedule, reduced their body mass index - a means of measuring obesity.

Children who eat a snack of peanuts each day have a lower risk of being overweight or obese, a new study has revealed.

Enjoying a snack of peanuts or peanut butter three to four times a week, straight after school stopped the middle-school children choosing less healthy alternatives, scientists found.

Dr Craig Johnston, assistant professor at the University of Houston, said: 'Obesity is the most pressing health issue facing us today.

'We'd like to think it's preventable, but from where I sit right now, there hasn't been a lot shown to be very effective on a large scale.'

Researchers monitored a group of Hispanic middle-school children, at high risk for being overweight or obese.

They acknowledged that snacking is more common during the adolescent years and that the unhealthy eating habit can lead to an unhealthy weight.

This is especially true if a student doesn't have access to other meals during the school day, they noted.

'We have a lot of kids skipping meals for a whole bunch of reasons,' Dr Johnston said.

'What we found is that kids get home from school around 4 pm. 

'There's less supervision by parents and less structure. 

'Kids are sitting down at the TV and eating, eating, eating because they really didn't eat at school.' 

Health instructors guided 257 Latino children in Houston through a program of physical activity and nutrition education.