The camp in Bradford is being designed by Paul Gately, professor ofexercise and obesity at Leeds Metropolitan University. Its progress willbe filmed by ITV for a documentary to be broadcast next year.
Since 2005 every reception class child in Bradford has been weighed andmeasured. Latest figures show that 11 per cent of boys are overweightand 12 per cent are obese, while 11 per cent of girls are overweight and10 per cent are obese.
Professor Gately, who has run summer camps for overweight teenagers atWoodhouse Grove School for eight years, said that the extent of weightproblems for young children was underestimated.
'With pre-schoolers it is not about weight loss but about behaviourchange that will lead to children growing out of their weight,' he said.'The aim of my programme is to point parents in the right direction andalso make them feel like good parents so they can overcome theproblem.'
Professor Gately said he hopes the documentary will counter misleadinginformation from non-experts in the media.
See Analysis, page 10.
