Why fat camps should be paid for by the NHS

PAUL Gately is a frustrated man. The director of Britain's only so-called "fat camp" believes he has found a foolproof way to help obese youngsters slim down. It certainly helped 16-year-old County Durham teenager Colin Ord who has shed nearly seven stones in the last year.

But the annual summer camp he has run at Woodhouse Grove boarding school, near Leeds, for the last four years still has 40 vacant spaces.

The problem is one of funding. A place on the course costs just under £2,000 for six weeks and £795 for two weeks but at the moment only 16 out of 75 are sponsored by the NHS.

"There is absolutely no health care provision for overweight and obese kids in the UK and given that it is the most common disease in our children it is pretty scandalous that children can't get support," says Paul, who this week has been speaking in Brazil at an international conference on obesity.

When Leeds Metropolitan University opened its special summer camp for the first time four years ago, 40 overweight youngsters aged between 11 and 18 signed up, including youngsters from the North-East and North Yorkshire.

It has proved such a success that this summer more than 70 children took part in the camp, learning how to enjoy sport and eat more healthily.

This year the camp - which aims to make sport enjoyable and give children the skills to to maintain their weight loss - has attracted youngsters from as far away as Jordan, Italy and Saudi Arabia.

The camp monitored the progress made by last year's campers and found that each child, on average, slimmed down by around four pounds per week and increased their fitness levels by 20 per cent. In some cases - such as Colin Ord from Seaham - the benefits were spectacular.

"We have very good evidence that our supervised programme of healthy eating, exercise and weight management works," says Paul. "Our research, based on three years of summer camps, shows that 70 per cent of children will manage their weight more effectively after attending the camp. That's more effective than the results that surgeons get - and that costs around £5,000."

But despite the apparent success of the camp, which is run as part of long-term research project into conquering childhood obesity, there has been no real interest from the Department of Health in encouraging similar summer project around the UK.

"What GPs will end up doing is wasting valuable resources by using very unsuccessful approaches to treating obesity. The dietician and the psychologist on their own clearly don't work," says Paul.

He believes it is necessary to take the youngsters out of their usual environment to break the cycle of behaviour, hopefully for good. "They find it very difficult to change their behaviour because they don't understand what they are doing wrong. When they see their friends eating things like chips and burgers they can't understand why they can't do it too," he adds.

The intense course combines exercise with lifestyle education and introduces children to attractively presented healthy alternatives to fatty fast food.

While youngsters are not absolutely forbidden chips and burgers, they are taught that they can be eaten occasionally as part of a varied and balanced diet which includes more vegetables, salads and fruit. The programme can produce spectacular results. "The physical and psychological differences we see in the children are dramatic," the camp director adds.

So what's life like at the UK's first and so far only "fat camp", where the youngsters enjoy a fun-packed daily regime of exercise, sport, healthy eating and even the odd disco and dorm raiding party.

Colin Ord, who slimmed down from 33 stones to 26 stones three pounds after attending last year's camp, says it is "absolutely fantastic".

With the help of his school, Colin's family GP obtained NHS funding. Colin, who is one of the camp's star pupils, admitted he was a classic couch potato before going to the camp.

"I was a big fan of junk food and I used to love snacking on bread and chips," he says. Now he loves going to the gym and eating salad.

"I've always had a problem with my weight. At my heaviest last year I was 33 stones. Thanks to the camp I have lost seven stones and I am now down to 26 stones, three pounds," says Colin.

Being grossly overweight is not something you can ignore, he says. "It affects every part of your life. It's harder to form relationships with other people when you are trying to get over what amounts to a disability."

Colin's parents are fairly big and he puts the root of his weight problem to being a much-loved only child. "Being an only child, I could always get what I wanted when I wanted and I never took any exercise."

He has always wanted to lose weight but until going away to camp for the first time last summer, nothing has worked. "The longest I've stuck with a dieting programme is two to three weeks. You just can't do it on your own. You need the support that the camp gives you."

After his second summer camp Colin says his outlook on life has been transformed. "I have learned so much about nutrition and exercise. Thanks to the camp I now go to the gym four times a week and swimming twice a week," adds Colin, who is itching to take up boxercise and tai chi back home in Seaham.

Most importantly, Colin believes the lessons he has learned will stick. "I have learned to integrate the things I have picked up during camp into my home lifestyle. I might lose weight quicker when I am at camp but I am still losing weight at home and I know what to do now," he adds.

"One of the key words they teach us is moderation. If you want some junk food, have it every couple of weeks but that's all."

Colin agrees that more youngsters with weight problems should be able to benefit from the camp - and that means more NHS funding. "I would recommend the camp to anybody who is not happy with their size."

Sophie-Lisa Smith, 13, from Stockton, is another fan of the camp. Her sister, Lucy, 14, lost three stone after last year's camp and this year Sophie-Lisa joined her. "It's great. Everyone has the same ability as you. I really like the basketball and the netball," she says.

Sophie-Lisa now realises she had too many take-away meals and not enough exercise. Lucy agrees: "I definitely feel better about myself. You can get into smaller clothes sizes and you can do better at PE, it's great."

For Colin's mother, Brenda, the best moment was when he was confident enough to buy a Sunderland football shirt because this time he knew it would fit him. "That was pure magic," she says.

Paul Gately is pleased that Colin's family managed to secure NHS funding but is sad that so few youngsters get the same opportunity. "He was funded last year for three weeks and for another three weeks this year. He really wanted to stay longer but he can't get the funding to stay any longer.

"It was a real struggle for his family to get the funding and it just seems crazy. Really, it makes far more sense to invest in Colin's health now than in the future."

Brenda Ord agrees that it is far better to change Colin's lifestyle now rather than end up having to ask the NHS to pay for joint replacements in 40 years time.

"He went to get some new jeans to go to this year's camp and the ones he was wearing had a 62 inch waist. The ones he bought had a 52 inch," says Brenda. "Obesity is becoming a major problem. The idea of a weight loss camp is definitely something the NHS should look at," she adds.

But it's not all hard work at the camp. At the end of the six-week course, the children get the chance to get their own back on the instructors.

When we visited, a green-looking football coach was gamely trying to carry on as normal after he was "sentenced" to drink a vile-sounding cocktail of Diet Coke, ketchup and brown sauce by a kid's "court", part of efforts to make the camp fun. Paul's brother was forced to eat dog food.

Now that's enough to make anyone lose their appetite...

For further details of weight loss camps log onto www.weightlosscamp.org.uk or call 0113-283 2600.

According to the camp's website, a typical day goes something like this:

8am: wake up

8.30am: breakfast

9.30am: aerobics

10.15am: basketball or football

11.15am: break

11.30am: swimming or tennis

12.30pm: lunch

1.30pm: rest period

2.30pm: arts and crafts or outdoor pursuits

3.30pm: nutrition education and cookery

4.30pm: competitions (free choice)

6pm: dinner

7.30pm: evening activities (drama, quizzes, disco)

9.30-10.30pm: bedtime (depending on age)