Child obesity has increased sharply in the last few years and the problems are getting worse. But one professor thinks special fat camps could sort our kids out...
Quite simply, kids are getting fatter than ever and it doesn't seem to be getting any better.
There are currently around 4.5 million kids in the UK who are either overweight or obese and that number's increasing.
There are two main reasons, according to Professor Paul Gately, director of Carnegie Weight Management at Leeds Metropolitan University.
'Parents are confused by food,' says Professor Gately. 'They are unable to read food labels properly simply because they haven't been shown how to.'
'The only thing they need to worry about is calories,' explains Professor Gately. 'If we eat too much and exercise too little, we become overweight.'
And parents shouldn't assume their child has a genetic condition or has a slow metabolism. 'Parents are in denial about the real cause of the problem - that they are to blame.'
Professor Gately has set up Britain's first weight loss camp for children under 8, having already tried it out on teenagers with great success.
Early results are positive. The children who took part lost significant amounts of weight and also reduced their levels of bad cholesterol.
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- Get the facts on cholesterol
- Check how much of your kid's body is fat
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