More than half the UK is overweight and there are fears that obese children might die before their parents. Health Correspondent Barry Nelson investigates new North-East efforts to fight the flab.

WHEN 50 people turned up on the first night of a new style weight management course, Kelvin Hutton knew he was on to something. "Everybody knows that slimming and dieting don't work in isolation. It's when they are linked to physical activity that people see results," says Kelvin, who has designed a new type of people-friendly course which could spread from Teesside to the rest of the UK.

The health and fitness manager from Middlesbrough Council has spent the last couple of years building on that first pilot scheme at Southlands Leisure Centre in Ormesby Road, Middlesbrough. Now hundreds of people have signed up for the so-called "Balance" Weight Management Courses which are run at five locations across the town.

"The essential message is that if you eat healthily your weight will manage itself. It is about behavioural change, not short fixes," says Kelvin.

With an average weight loss of around half a stone, the eight-week courses, which combine basic education and advice about healthy eating with easy-to-follow exercise sessions, are beginning the fightback against growing obesity levels on Teesside. And the word is getting out, with interest being registered by local authorities from as far away as Bristol and Lothian in Scotland.

Academics at Teesside University, who have been studying different ways to fighting the growing British disease of obesity, are so impressed by the new weight management courses that they are running the country's first university accredited course to train non-health professionals working with people who are overweight. The hope is that the new course, which begins in January, will be the first of many across the UK.

If it takes off, it could be a valuable additional weapon alongside the new measures announced by Health Secretary John Reid's new White Paper on Public Health earlier this week. The Government's new proposals include new labelling of the nutritional content of food, curbs on the promotion of unhealthy food to children and weight loss guidance for all.

Visiting one of the course centres - Whinney Banks Early Excellence Service, which is attached to the local junior school in Middlesbrough - it is clear that there is no shortage of enthusiasm. Virtually all of the 20 or so women enrolled on the course - no men so far - say they got involved after their children brought a Balance Weight Management course promotional leaflet home. The fact that there is also a creche at the well-equipped centre is another big draw.

Produced by the local NHS, Middlesbrough Primary Care Trust, the leaflet could easily be mistaken for a promotional shot from a commercial company. With the slogan "Life Changing Solution" across the top and the eye-catching Balance Weight Management logo, the leaflet offers overweight local residents the chance of what is described as "achievable weight loss". Costing just £2.90 per session, with no joining fee, the introductory offer even includes a free health club induction, worth £15, after the first five Balance sessions.

Virtually everybody on this particular eight-week course has lost weight. June - who is in her 40s - is the star of the show and has lost half a stone.

Asked why they have joined up, the response from the women sitting in the centre's sports hall is that they want to look slimmer. "Image is obviously very important," says course leader Linda Kime, an outreach worker with Middlesbrough Neighbourhood Trust. "They want to look trimmer though the health issue is also important."

Asked whether they are enjoying the course, the response is a thumbs-up all round. "I come to these courses because they make me feel better," says one mum. "The message we get is that no food is bad as long as it is eaten in moderation. We are taught about the balance between food and exercise," another woman adds.

Course members have one hour of theory about the difference between healthy and unhealthy foods, covering topics such as sugar, fat, fibre and nutrition and then a 35-minute exercise session.

As part of the food theory section, Linda uses one or two hideous props - a big, wobbly slab of yellow rubber represents human fat while a transparent plastic tube demonstrates the way in which obesity can obstruct the flow of blood through our arteries. There is even a "fat vest", weighing a stone and a half, which can be worn to emphasise the extra weight carried around by many people. More pleasant props are bowls of fruit and samples of delicious fruit smoothie drinks.

The women are all offered food diaries to fill in and advice on how to prepare healthier meals. Some of the key messages are: Never miss meals; don't weigh yourself too often; set realistic goals; no food is bad or good; listen to your body, eat when you are genuinely hungry.

Fitness trainer Jo Turnball, a sports development officer for Middlesbrough Council, says the women are doing really well. "The aerobic activity gives people positive benefits and makes them feel good. They have all stayed the pace but I still monitor them to see what they can cope with. We try to keep the exercises simple and repetitive so everybody can keep up. They have a great time."

Kelvin Hutton is clearly very proud at what has been achieved on Teesside and is hoping that the scheme will be rolled out across the UK.

The key is to ensure there are enough non-health professionals trained to deliver the courses in local communities.

"Sometimes in commercial slimming organisations the only qualification you need to run a course is to have lost a lot of weight," says Kelvin. In the public sector that is not good enough.

For the very first pilot scheme at Southlands leisure centre, the fitness coach received informal training from a local NHS community dietician.

The aim is to build on this co-operation between the NHS and the local authority and to ensure that training and full university-backed accreditation is available to the Balance Weight Management trainers of the future.

While the Teesside University course is the first community-based scheme in the UK, courses developed by the Association for the Study of Obesity for nurses, medical and other health professionals who are working with obese people are already running in Glasgow and Liverpool.

Dr Beckie Lang, a research fellow with Teesside University's School of Health and Social Care, and her colleague, Professor Carolyn Summerbell, are convinced the new courses will encourage more people to launch locally run weight management courses.

"The NHS can't cope by itself with the problem of obesity and some people are put off by the larger, commercially-run weight-loss groups because they can find their approach intimidating," says Dr Lang. "What we would like to see is more support for local people in local groups to run their own weight management programmes. These are the people who know the issues facing people in different areas and there may be different approaches required to running a weight management group in Devon to those best suited to Middlesbrough or Scotland," she adds.

The new course will cover everything from calculating the Body Mass Index and understanding the classification system for overweight and obesity to recognising differences between healthy eating and various dietary regimes.

"It will benefit people such as health care assistants who work alongside health professionals. They might run a group within a GP clinic. It would also suit council leisure staff. It gives them extra knowledge to improve the service they already have," she says.

After studying the so-called "fat camp", a residential summer weight management school set up by a te am at Leeds Metropolitan University to help obese children, Dr Lang is convinced that the local, community-based courses have a better chance of long-term success.

And with the scale of the obesity problem on his hands, Health Secretary Reid needs all the help he can get.