I had a meeting with Professor Paul Gately...

Paul is Carnegie Professor of Exercise and Obesity at the Carnegie Faculty of Sport and Education at Leeds Metropolitan University and has been working with us to look at levels of obese and overweight children in Leeds schools. We are starting to look at the correlation between children who are overweight or obese and their levels of self-esteem,their mental health and their attainment.

Anyone who has read the Unicef report into the well-being of children in 21 industrialised countries should be worrried about our children. The report provides an overview of the state of childhood in the most economically advanced nations of the world. In total, 40 indicators of child well-being – from relative poverty and child safety, to educational achievement to drug abuse – are brought together to present a picture of the lives of children. Unsurprisingly, the United Kingdom and the United States find themselves at the bottom. You can read the report at http://www.unicef.org.uk

This is a hugely important aspect of our work and Leeds has a fantastic record of work in this area through the Leeds Healthy Schools programme and Paul's work at Carnegie.
Watch this space...
Chris