IT is the butt of endless jokes and almost a perverse symbol of pride among middle-aged men . . . but the beer belly has a serious side. A leading expert has warned that it is a time bomb for the health service.

Doctors and nurses will be told at a major conference that they must target male obesity in the battle against illnesses such as cancer, diabetes and heart disease. If they fail, it could be a "catastrophe" for the health service and the economy.

Dr David Haslam, chairman of the National Obesity Forum and a keynote speaker at the Hazardous Waist conference to be held this summer, told the Sunday Herald: "We need to improve obesity management in men as a matter of urgency.

"Women, and fighting childhood obesity, are the groups taking up the challenge, but men are inept at seeking help - they need primary care professionals to manage the problem."

British men are more likely to be obese than women, with one in six men clinically obese.

Six out of 10 men are overweight. Men tend to store fat around the abdomen - the classic beer belly - which has more complications than fat around the hips or legs.

Haslam said: "I would be delighted if the government or industry did something that targeted men specifically.

"Men don't go to the doctor until they are really ill and there has not been the same amount of recognition in tackling obesity in men."

That sentiment was echoed by Dr Ian Banks, president of the Men's Health Forum, the organisation behind the conference.

He said: "The medical profession has just woken up to the problem. For a long time, the serious threat of obesity was underestimated.

"Medics have a sense of fatalism about fat - they see a fat patient come in and believe that that patient will always be fat, that there is not much you can do about it.

"What we need to think about is, 'what the hell are we going to do about it?'" Banks appealed for more emphasis on buddy systems, where men compete with other men to lose weight and get fit.

"It's the only thing that really works, " he said. "Men will not go to WeightWatchers or slimming classes because they are embarrassed."

Haslam added that men with a beer belly were not cuddly or big-boned, but are, in fact, risking an early death.

"Having a lot of fat around the midriff is like having nuclear waste buried under concrete and leaking everywhere - fat is wrapped around the gut, the core vessels and organs, " he said.

"Men who have a belly are putting themselves at risk of cancer, diabetes and numerous other health problems.

Obesity is a medical condition.

If it is left untackled, you are risking an early death."

The Men's Health Forum will publish a guide to diet and weight loss to coincide with the Hazardous Waist conference.

The Haynes HGV Man Manual is aimed at helping overweight men diet and exercise. Government figures show that the average male waist size in the UK is now 97.6cm (38.5"), up from 93.8cm (37") in 1996. Doctors say a waist size of more than 102cm (40") means risking diabetes and other health problems.

While men may be reluctant to join a weight-loss class, companies such as Scottish Slimmers and WeightWatchers have recently introduced male-only packages and classes to encourage dieting men. Mary Price, who runs a men-only Scottish Slimmers class in Lanarkshire, said: "The potential for men-only classes is huge.

"It's true they feel a bit selfconscious and it takes a lot of courage for them to get there in the first place, but when they do, they are very determined to lose the weight - they don't want to cheat, they want to succeed at it."

The internet has reduced the embarrassment factor for men who want to lose weight.

Internet monitoring company Hitwise say that visits to menshealth. co. uk have shown 134-per cent growth and sites that offer electronic diets delivered by e-mail have seen similar levels of growth.

But any move to push men into managing their weight by health professionals will have to overcome tough stereotypes, according to Professor Alan White, the only professor of men's health in the UK.

He said: "While men are getting more concerned about their weight, they have to be very well supported - men are not in the habit of dieting, they are in the habit of eating.

"There is the idea of a tubby man as cuddly, but it is actually the worst thing to be. We need to know far more about what would encourage men into better diet habits because current strategies don't seem to be having much impact."

Sam Cameron, 27, from Cumnock, has heeded the warnings and embarked on his own self-improvement plan. He said: "I have been trying to eat a bit healthier, to get a bit of fruit into my diet. But exercise is another thing - apart from playing football once a week, that's about it, and I know I could do more."