Spending cuts to ease Britain’s budget deficit could affect the country’s ongoing obesity battle.

Health services may suffer some of the impact from the cuts, but, according to weight loss expert, Professor Paul Gately, funding initiatives such as the summer camps he runs in Bradford for children with weight problems is a long-term money-saver.

Obesity is one of the biggest drains on the Health Service. Educating youngsters from an early age about healthy eating and exercise is bound to pay dividends in future.

According to Professor Gately, there are 140,000 youngsters in Britain with obesity problems, yet with little or no funding available through the Health Service to support schemes such as the Carnegie International Camp, there is a danger they are only scratching the surface.

In the 12 years since they were launched at Woodhouse Grove School, Apperley Bridge, the camps have helped more than 6,000 young people lose weight and improve their fitness and confidence through the programme combining sporting activities and healthy eating.

But Professor Gately fears some youngsters may not be able to financially access the scheme, creating a ‘postcode lottery.’ He believes funding youngsters through the NHS is a long-term investment, ultimately saving money which may have to be spent on alternative options in future such as surgery.

“If we don’t invest now, we will spend much more money in future,” says Professor Gately.

He says tailoring a fun programme to suit the youngsters’ needs where they can still eat fish and chips and pizza, but in healthier portions can have a far greater impact than dieting or surgery.

Alarmingly, youngsters as young as 14 have had surgery, and while Professor Gately isn’t against it, he believes lifestyle intervention is far better.

“I am not against surgery, but I would argue that people I know that have been for surgery have not been through quality lifestyle interventions like ours, and it may not be as accessible because health authorities are not paying for them. We know we can be as successful, if not better.”

“Would you rather one child go to a place where they feel safe and secure, meet lots of friends and lose weight, or they go into hospital for surgery that has risks associated with it?”

Professor Gately speaks from experience. He has more than 20 years’ research experience in to childhood obesity. His knowledge and expertise comes from studying weight-loss programmes throughout the world.

Through Carnegie Weight Management, based at Leeds University, Professor Gately has been delivering weight-loss camps, helping youngsters lose and maintain their weight loss.

Losing weight isn’t simply a physical process, it is an emotional journey. “There is a range of emotions, physical issues which are still there and I think that is why our programme is different because we consider all those different dimensions and address them,” says Professor Gately.

He says people may be put off by the perception that losing weight is a miserable and painful experience. “For us, that is so counter-intuitive because we believe people are more successful if they do things they enjoy and feel they are capable. We give them the skills and knowledge and make it fun.”

This year’s CWM Health summer camp runs from Sunday, July 10, to Saturday, September 3.

An open day, giving parents and young people the opportunity to see the school’s facilities and chat to young people who have previously been on the summer camps takes place from 10am until 2pm at Woodhouse Grove School, Apperley Bridge on Sunday.

For more information, visit cwmhealth.com or call 0113 8125233 to book a place, or text CAMP2011 and your name to 88020 and someone from CWM will call you back.