Episode 1 I Know What You Weighed Last Summer

Us Brits are among the fattest in the world.

Run for the Nando's!

It's a national crisis,

and for some, it's a matter of life or death.

There is no hope. There is no hope for him.

If she carries on, she will die young.

Welcome to a super-size summer camp

that claims to have the answers to tackling the obesity epidemic...

Diets and boot camps don't work, because we're forcing something

on somebody that they may not be ready for.

..but its methods are controversial.

Nice big, healthy lunch?

Oh, yeah...

The kids dine out on fast food.

-No-one's being greedy, Jordan.

-I'm not being greedy!

-Two bits of milk? Would you drink that?

-Yeah, that's fine!

Chips and pizza are on the menu.

My first impressions of the food -

I would like more, obviously.

That's why I'm here!

And the staff are barely older than the campers themselves.

Did anyone play with their Barbies when they were little?

They're ridiculous.

They don't have a clue. I'm telling you, don't have a clue.

For some campers, it'll be the longest five weeks of their lives...

It's so hard!

..but for others, it's life-changing.

CHEERING

Does this radical approach work?

Keep going!

And is this really the answer to teenage obesity?

What a waste of effort and time.

Our camp gets results.

I'm going to go with the chips and a burger.

Get that belly moving up and down!

Jiggle, jiggle, jiggle, jiggle...

It's week one at Europe's only residential weight loss

camp for kids.

So, each day, we're doing loads of exercise.

I think football is OK, but it's not my favourite.

I prefer eating.

That's a sport.

That is a sport, actually!

-In America!

-SHE LAUGHS

Come on, Mia!

15-year-old Katie from Surrey weighs 17 1/2 stone.

Katie is naturally lazy.

She will quite often find an excuse

for me to pick her up.

She's got too many bags or she needs the toilet.

There's always something.

THEY SHOUT

Katie's battle to lose weight has been a long-standing family issue.

And it's why she's joining 85 other teenagers for five weeks

to battle the problem.

Katie has always been under the dietician at Kingston Hospital

from the age of two.

In fact, I think she is probably their longest serving patient.

When she went to a party as a toddler, the other children would

go off and play after tea, whereas she never seemed to feel full.

I guess, like, all my life, I don't know what it's like to be thin.

As well as overeating at mealtimes, Kitty is a regular snacker.

I definitely have a little, like...

an addictive personality, definitely.

I like bread wraps, pitta, anything like that.

I try and have healthy muesli bars.

I sometimes find those under the bed.

You know, she's constantly wanting to satisfy her sugar craving, I suppose.

This is my, like, inspiration board.

Er...I don't really use it that much.

There was a couple of days where I was like, "Yeah, let's lose weight,"

and then it sort of ran out, but hopefully, yeah,

I'll be able to use it after camp to motivate me.

Katie has set herself the goal of losing a stone

over the five-week camp.

If she's going to meet this target,

she needs to change her habits and thinking.

My first impressions of the food -

I would like more, obviously.

-That's why I'm here! But...

-THEY LAUGH

But... Yeah, it's good.

KATIE LAUGHS

It's the end of week one, and the campers' first big challenge -

a two-mile run.

Are you ready?

CHEERING

It's the benchmark used to monitor progress each week.

We've got the two-mile run to do.

Well, "run"/walk.

Every camper's run is timed, and each week the aim is to beat that time.

Three, two, one, go!

Oh, yeah, I'm running...

Seriously, I'm so out of breath, and I've literally done like one metre.

We go harder, we go harder now!

For Katie and the other campers,

every day of the next five weeks will follow the same pattern.

Structure is critical,

and forming habits that are positive is critical.

Professor Paul Gately, a leading childhood obesity expert,

co-founded the camp with Leeds Beckett University 16 years ago.

The way the day works, you have three activity periods

in the morning which can be from educational experiences...

This week, we're going to be talking about the media and body image.

..to, you know, exercise, sport.

Come on, boys! Race each other, race each other all the way!

So, in the afternoon, there's lots of physical activities.

Continuous hooks! Left! Right!

That's it!

Till I say stop, keep going!

The early days of our programme are about building their fitness up slowly.

Come on, fight it!

Come on, mind over matter!

And what we see is a sort of slow increase in their fitness.

Building them up to enable them to be successful

when they return home.

Run it for your boyfriend.

The five-week camp costs over £4,000.

Some are funded by the NHS or local authorities.

But Katie's family have paid the bill themselves.

My husband and I were sort of at the end of our tether with it all.

I gave her the brochure, and she was furious.

She didn't speak to me for the rest of the day.

I'm glad we don't have to run, cos at school, we always do.

So walking is a lot easier.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

-If we complete this, we should be allowed the Wi-Fi password.

-Oh!

I've got a really bad stitch!

It's like someone's stabbed me.

I'm not running up this.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

It takes Katie 36 minutes to complete the two-mile run.

I'm quite lazy.

I mean, I shower and everything, but, like, just relax on the sofa.

I don't do much exercise.

A lot of people describe her as happy, funny, very friendly,

and I don't always see that nice, funny side of her, which is

quite sad, really.

KATIE LAUGHS

Obviously I'm not happy all the time.

I used to have breakdowns about my weight a lot,

but, yeah, I'd say there is like a subconscious armour that I have.

I'm quite sensitive.

I'm not really that body confident.

Like, people who don't know me obviously judge me

more on looks, because everyone is judged on looks, like,

first appearance and stuff, so...yeah.

WHISTLE BLOWS

Come on, nice and quick! From your place, nice quick movements!

Most of the staff are students with a background in sports science,

nutrition, psychology or education.

We are not here for ourselves.

We really are invested in these kids emotionally.

It is a pleasure just seeing them change just so much

over the course of the term.

For most of the activities in camp, boys and girls work in separate groups.

We want kids to develop social skills,

so we've put them in their own age and gender groups

so they can build relationships and develop their sort of social

skills to be more successful when they return home.

14-year-old Lana weighs 20st.

So bored...

She's come with her 12-year-old sister, Alicia,

but a few days in, and she's struggling to make friends.

Lana arrived with quite low self-esteem.

I think she thought, you know, "I'm the biggest,"

and, "I'm different to everyone else," and things.

Do you want to go out to get some air or go for a walk?

Come on, we'll go for a walk.

She feels a lot of people are talking about her today.

They're not. They're not at all.

They're not.

It's so hard!

When you get to that, you need to come and talk to us staff, OK?

And then so we can take you away from the situation,

we can chat to you.

I think there's just miscommunication.

Do you want to go back in or do you just want a breather?

Just want a breather? OK.

Don't get upset.

I know they've called me stuff, but I just choose to put it in a box,

lock it up and not think about it.

Because if I start thinking about it, I'll get really depressed.

She'd rather risk getting run over by running across the road

to get away from kids than to face them.

Lana has had a long history of bullying at school.

They used to tease me about my weight,

and then they teased me about my name.

What it is backwards.

They bit her, and spat at her and called her names.

You just wish more...for your kids...you know.

They made up a rhyme.

She's big, she's fat, she bounces on the ground,

it's Lana.

Sometimes I just walk away, but then they all start chanting it

and it gets louder and louder.

SHE SOBS

I...

I stay home because...

I just don't want to hear that.

Every year she got older, she put a stone on.

So, like when she were two, she was 2st.

When she was three, she was 3st, and so on.

And then it just ballooned out of control.

We did all sorts of things to try and help her lose weight.

And extreme of padlocking the kitchen.

She has actually eaten raw sausage, dried pasta.

Once I saw a half-eaten tins of corned beef.

It looked she'd just been,

like, getting at the meat with just her fingers.

That's not normal behaviour.

It's the start of week two

and there is a weigh-in to measure campers' progress.

-You are 14, is that right?

-Yes.

The kids that come to camp will all lose weight.

Which is due to the calorie-controlled diet

and the amount of exercise we do each day.

But they have to still really push themselves

to get the most out of the programme.

It is really important for them to see their progress and also it shows

that the hard work they are putting in in their sessions is paying off.

Do you want to step off for me? Step off a moment, sorry.

But Lana has only lost one pound.

We are really concerned with Lana's weight loss this week.

We did expect her to lose quite a bit more than what she did.

At the moment, we are

not entirely sure the reason why she did not lose as much.

But it could be down to her not pushing herself enough

during the physical activity sessions.

For many of our parents, they have weight problems themselves

and what they are trying to do is not let their child

go down the journey that they have been on.

At home, Lana and her sister Alisha have a lot of responsibility.

As young carers at home, we cook, clean...

Help my mum in the shower.

Help her out. Help clean her. And do the washing up.

Ready?

I'm very blessed to have two girls what like...

not only like cooking,

but want to learn how to cook.

When she was really young, she was outgoing, she was bubbly.

And then it started turning.

She shut herself off from everything.

Because of Lana's disappointing weight loss,

staff member Pippa intervenes.

Would you like to set some goals together?

So maybe, you know, I think...

Do you know what your best score is?

-I never asked.

-You never asked. I think it's...

around the 40 minutes.

So we could try and do around 30.

We could try and aim for a continuous weight loss

of maybe at least three pounds.

Because what did you set your goal weight as?

I don't know.

We can like set real goals in that and then, you know,

you can see if you do accomplish them.

-And then that will really build up your confidence.

-Yeah.

-That would be good.

-Yes.

-Cool.

A target or a goal is only worthwhile

if you feel you can achieve it.

Given her weight, she will have been set many goals and targets before

that she will have only ever viewed as she has failed on.

It will be fun. It's a new experience.

You are challenging yourself here on camp and that is another challenge.

-Yeah?

-Yeah.

Over in the boys' dorm,

the weigh-in has revealed dramatic results for 15-year-old Adam.

He came to camp weighing 20st and in just one week,

he has lost over half a stone.

He may be the biggest loser among the boys, but he is not happy.

I've told them, over ten times, that I wanted to go over this past week.

But every time I bring it up, they say, well,

management is getting onto it.

He is so determined to go that he has already packed his bags.

Hello, is that Adam's mum?

-It is.

-He has lost quite a bit of weight this morning from monitoring,

so what is your sort of thinking behind him staying or going?

I want him to stay. I want him to stay. Because of his predicament.

Right, OK.

So you are happy for us just to try and keep him on site

-and encourage him to get involved in sessions?

-Yeah, yes.

-Right.

-Thank you.

-Cheers, bye.

-Bye.

I'm hoping today,

the fact that he has found out that he has lost some weight,

that it will give him that motivation to continue

and stay here.

I do think Adam enjoys it.

He has just been homesick.

He needs to get as much out of this as he can.

We're trying all to get across

that he needs the right mentality for life.

We do think that if he did see the process through,

his life will change.

Hopefully, by a great deal.

But even a slight change is a very big step for these guys.

I understand it's hard for him, but...

Nobody is going to solve your problems but you.

He doesn't know how to mix in society.

And I think that is a lot of his problems.

I wake up, like, at eight o'clock at night

and I'm sort of awake all night.

Where he wakes me up between three and four every morning.

Through screaming at his PlayStation.

In fact, I don't see him.

He comes out of his bedroom maybe once a day to collect his takeaway.

And that's about it.

I was about ten when I started putting on weight.

I eat just because it's... I get bored a lot,

just sitting doing nothing.

When he was two years old, if I wouldn't buy him sweets,

he used to grab me by the hair and drag me down on the floor

and kick hell out of me.

Adam's life revolves around pizza takeaways every day.

And Coke.

He drinks gallons of the stuff,

up to six litres a day.

When it does, I don't know how I will deal with it,

but, yeah, he's going to die.

Through obesity.

A few days later, and Adam is missing.

A boy has disappeared. We don't know where he has gone.

He was there for breakfast and for lunch and then he disappeared.

Actually quite scary.

On average, we will get

two, maybe three campers running away each year.

Just think, if you were a child, where would you go?

'Most of the time, they don't actually leave the campsite.'

They are usually just wandering around the fields,

or they've gone back to the dorm.

I just want to say, to start off,

I don't want you to be alarmed or worried, but we have just done

a count with the campers and Adam is not currently in the session.

He would only have been missing 20 minutes,

so he can't have got too far.

As his mother, do you think

he is the sort of person who would have gone?

OK, then. So we do think there is a potential

he may have left the site.

INDISTINCT

It really does kind of, bring it home,

that you are really doing a serious job here

and you are working with kids, vulnerable kids.

And you are responsible for them.

-SAT NAV:

-'Turn left.'

-"Turn..." What are you on about?

-Left.

I don't think he will have gone this far.

We are on our way back to camp now.

After an hour of searching, Adam is located back at home.

I saw him pull up in a taxi

and my first reaction was relief that he was safe.

But then, obviously, I did what mummies do.

And gave him what for, for walking out.

It's not a pleasant place to be when you're getting babied all the time.

That's what I thought of it. It is like a prison.

I would say it's for mostly younger kids than older kids.

I would love him to sort his life out.

Something has to click in his brain.

It's down to him, nobody else. He has got all the knowledge.

He's just not got the motivation to use it.

I think some of the kids that we have had,

we couldn't get through to.

They were either too far gone or they needed a lot more help

than we can offer in five weeks.

And that does frustrate us, sometimes.

Adam decided not to return to camp.

There is an obesity epidemic in this country.

It is two people chucking crap at their kids, because it's cheap.

You know that people who watch this will blame the parents.

What do you say to them?

Well, I...

When I look at...

You know, I've done it myself, I've looked at other overweight children

and thought, you know, what is that mother doing?

Why is she not doing something about it?

You know, it's easy to judge.

It's not as though I haven't tried everything.

And now I know just how difficult it is.

I wish I could have a magic wand and, you know, help her.

But at the end of the day, Lana has got to meet me halfway.

I'm lost.

Where Adam is concerned, I'm lost.

Don't know what to do.

Life is harder for bigger people.

End of.

It's the end of week two.

Katie is taking part in a session about body image

led by staff member Nicola.

So, we've got all the girls together, think good, feel good.

These sessions are devised to talk about self-esteem

and body confidence.

Two things that everyone growing up, everyone as adults, struggles with.

I'm a 15-year-old obese girl.

SHE LAUGHS

It's not even funny. I don't know why I'm laughing.

It is funny for me.

SHE GROANS

Think good, feel good is about talking, it's about sharing,

it's about attitudinal change in order that they then start to

think differently and feel differently.

And sometimes, when we get bullied, bullies will say something to us

and we have got our friends saying complete opposite things.

Saying lovely things about us.

Do we just end up sometimes going home

and thinking about the mean things someone said about us?

Always.

A lot of people came and their identity was, I am fat.

And that was so sad to see.

They need to change their attitudes.

Believe in themselves and build up their confidence

and that is actually much harder than just losing weight.

At home, Katie's parents have tried to help her lose weight

but so far, nothing has worked.

They have tried, like, locking away all the food.

Like, I was really angry... And they drove me

to school so I couldn't get anything on the way to school.

Took all my money away. But I just found ways around it.

Like just borrowing money from my friends and stuff.

It made life at home really, really hard.

Obviously, she wants the best for me, but it is sacrificing

our relationship together.

Katie is offered a one-to-one session

to discuss some of the issues she has had with her mum.

I don't even understand myself.

I don't like it if she praises me for doing exercise,

but then if she doesn't notice, then that makes me really upset.

-And then...

-LAUGHS

..I hate it when she like mentions weight or anything. I don't...

I feel as though... I said this, I feel as though if I lived on my own,

I would be able to do a lot better.

I don't know what's wrong with me.

I just don't like the topic at all...

You don't like to discuss it at all.

I was going to say, it sounds as though it might actually be

a self-esteem thing because, if she is to praise you,

it means that it is drawing attention to what you've done.

And sometimes you can then feel pressured,

now I feel like I need to do it more,

or you have pointed out that I wasn't doing it before.

-There are so many things that...

-Yeah.

-..start to go around your head.

-Yeah, it's weird.

'A lot of our campers do have really low self-esteem.

'And that is why we need to pay as much attention to it as possible.'

To try to help them to learn these different ways so that

when they go home, they can continue those positive thinking skills.

-Good.

-Thank you.

At camp, all meals are portion-controlled

and calories allocated according to a camper's age, height and weight.

-PAUL GATELY:

-It's not counting calories,

but it is a way of helping them understand portions,

understand meals, understand snacking.

So that they are more equipped when they return home.

Some of the menu choices may seem surprising.

On a Sunday, we have a Sunday roast.

It's pizza, it's jacket potatoes, sandwiches, lasagne...

They give us, like, pizza. Why would you give us dough?

Dough is not good for you, do you know what I mean?

As I walked in, I thought,

God, I hope I don't have to eat rabbit food!

It would be unrealistic for them to go home and live off salad.

-PAUL:

-What we are trying to do is work with those children

so they lose weight at a very prescribed rate.

We are not driven by the latest diet trend.

We are driven by what the evidence gives us best results.

Complex carbohydrates in a range of foods are critical.

We also know that we want to reduce the fat content

and we want to maintain a good protein content. So that is it.

Go, boys, filing out.

Halfway through camp

and the kids are about to make plans for lunch at a very unexpected venue.

So, you know you are going McDonalds on Wednesday at the trip.

So today's session is based on you planning out what you are allowed,

based on calories.

Any time I have ever told a friend they go to McDonald's,

it's like, "What on earth? Like, how do you do that?"

But the point of camp is it is teaching them

a realistic healthy lifestyle.

We can't say, never have fast food again. That is not realistic.

They will carry on these behaviours.

-Amy, guess what? Guess what?

-What?

There is more sugar in a mayo chicken than in a fruit shoot.

THEY CHUCKLE

Right! 3.2g of sugar in a salad...

So, instead of saying, "No, don't do it,"

we'll teach them about the calories within the food,

how to have a meal within their calorie allowance.

That works, doesn't it?

Basically, you can pick anything you want within your calorie map.

I'd suggest possibly not going for fries,

because they don't fill you up that long.

Drinks-wise, I'd stick with zero drinks, or water,

cos liquid calories are just going to be wasted,

so I'd try and get as much of your calories from food as possible.

17-year-old Jordan weighs 18 stone,

and he's allowed 800 calories for his lunch.

I wouldn't think you would go to a fast food shop

and actually get food when you're at, like, a weight loss camp.

So, it's rare.

It is a weird feeling, you know,

taking them round to an outlet like McDonald's

when it's a health-based camp.

I got my Berry Burst Iced Fruit Smoothie -

I got that in a large, but I changed that to a medium,

and that had less calories in - so I swapped that,

and now I have enough to get an ice cream,

so I'm going to write an ice cream down.

And that's me done.

Is it just about calories, or is about nutritional content as well?

It's about nutritional content.

So, which would be better - ice cream or fruit?

-Fruit would be better.

-Is that your final answer?

Right. OK, well done.

I'm going to change it to fruit.

I think they should be teaching this in schools,

because young kids out there don't have a clue what they're eating.

So, does anyone not want McDonald's,

and wants the packed lunch that we provide anyway?

-Aran.

-Aran.

-So, it's just you, Aran, that wants a sandwich?

OK.

Out of the boys, only Aran has opted to have a packed lunch instead.

I think it's all right to have a treat now and then -

it's just I can't have it as a full-time thing.

Aran is from Selby, North Yorkshire.

He's 16, and weighs 20 stone.

Aran has overeaten for years,

and breaking that cycle is a battle I've had for years.

At home I was just stuffing food in,

and not...I was literally just eating for the sake of eating

when I weren't even hungry.

You know, when he's volunteered to make a cup of tea,

he's going to see what he can get out the fridge.

Cos he'll say, "Do you want a cup of tea, Mum?"

He will even take, like, a packet of ham, packet of corned beef,

any prepacked meats that are in the fridge.

I hate it when corned beef sticks together.

Another reason why I came here was because over this last year

I'd gone through two bed braces - a wooden one and a metal one -

both broke because of... broke because of my weight.

Weight has always been a major issue for Aran's family.

At 16, his sister weighed 34 stone, and underwent gastric bypass surgery.

She was so poorly at the time,

we had to consider turning off life support

after being in and out of intensive care for a few months.

He saw his sister there, all these wires and tubes and everything,

and it just totally messed him up.

She survived,

but the radical procedure didn't solve her eating disorder.

What I'm most scared about is if I didn't come here,

is that I'd turn out like my older sister.

She went from obese to skinny to anorexic in a short time.

This summer camp is the last option.

If he carries on eating like he is,

that'll probably eventually kill him.

Camp could be Aran's last chance to avoid surgery -

but he's low in confidence.

When I was at school, whenever we played basketball or summat,

I wouldn't be passed it because of my weight.

I used to feel quite gutted, and I'd just sit out.

But then I realised that's not helping me.

Right, boys, before we start, I'm not having you pick

and choose the sessions you join in with.

If you're fit enough to do this one,

then you're fit enough to do dodge ball. All right?

I don't want you to say you've got an injury,

and then ten minutes later you're fit again. If you've got an injury,

it doesn't cure itself in ten minutes.

Nice one, pick up the line.

Can we catch 'em? Can we catch 'em? Do the job for your team.

Go, go, go!

Faced with the daily physical demands of camp,

Aran is taking every opportunity he can to sit things out.

Obviously, I don't want you run out and...pass out.

But I think you can give it a go.

Even just walking's going to be better for you.

Or a little jog.

Be ten times better than just sitting down, won't it?

And everyone will help you out in the activity, all right?

Good man.

Aran would sit out of a lot of sessions,

and you were never sure, 100%, if he's injured,

or if he's faking it, or what's going on -

or if he just can't be bothered.

I feel with Aran it was a little bit of tough love.

You can give him that time, where you can sit with him

one-to-one and speak with him,

but he needs to know that that's not going to fly every session,

every day.

It's not just the physical side of camp that Aran is finding difficult.

I haven't made many friends here.

I've only made a few.

-DAWN:

-Aran's very much a loner, very much a hermit.

He spends all his time in his bedroom.

He's no self-esteem or self-confidence.

People, like, give me disgusted looks when I do actually go out.

Most of the time, if somebody's coming towards me,

I will literally cross the street,

put in my headphones, put my hood up, and then I'd cross,

and I would just walk down the street on the opposite side.

-SCOTT:

-I think when they first come here, they're very shy people.

It takes time for them to come out their shells a bit.

Most of them don't think they're good enough.

Most really hate themselves.

-Do you want to change, then?

-I do - I do want to change.

Staff member Adam has been given the task

of trying to refocus and motivate Aran.

There's quite a lot of stuff you can do with a bench, isn't there?

Sitting, that's one good one.

I like Aran, he's...he's a cheeky kid.

Yeah, he's definitely got a sense of humour.

You can go for, like, a minute. Let's go.

I-I can't go for a minute.

Well, try it - just see how long you can go for.

-I'll time you, all right?

-Can't I just kick the tree, instead?

Why don't you try this, and we'll see how long you can go for?

-DAWN:

-He hates walking anywhere.

He just doesn't like any form of exercise whatsoever,

and if he can get out of doing it, all the better,

as far as he's concerned.

Come on, see if you can go backwards.

I can't! I can barely walk straight, I can't walk backwards!

Well, then, give it a go.

High knees, high knees, high knees.

-I can't. I'll fall backwards.

-Huh?

I'm just going to walk backwards.

-This is what I'm talking about, mate!

-What?

It's so frustrating - I know you can do it.

'I reckon he's motivated, and he wants to change,

'and he wants to get healthier.'

Do you reckon you're maybe a bit too negative

about what you can and can't do?

'He puts himself down a lot, which is really frustrating,'

cos you know he can do all this stuff, and you see him doing it,

and five minutes later, he's saying, "No, I can't."

We know you can do all this stuff.

So, why do you keep telling yourself you can't do it?

I just don't know.

You don't know? So why don't you just do it?

'I guess the main thing we're trying to change with him

'is getting him to think, "I can do this, I've already done this,

' "I know I can do it - let's go do it." '

I know I have got to work towards it, it's just..

I know, but think of how you'll be when you finish -

when you lose weight, and you become healthier, and you, you know,

you feel more confident and you go outside with your mates, and...

Mate, you'll be so happy when you get there.

I'm going to take on board what Adam was saying to me.

Today, the campers are on their trip to Manchester's Trafford Centre.

It's a deliberate test for the kids.

-SINGS:

-Thornton's!

-NICOLA:

-The environment we live in now

is setting us up to be unhealthy.

There's going to be triggers everywhere.

Oh, so nice not to have to walk.

There are so many shops within walking distance,

so many food outlets.

The world outside is trying to say to you, like,

"Right, let's see if you can fail."

The lunch has been paid for by McDonald's.

To people who say you're sleeping with the enemy

by taking them to McDonald's, you know, what would you say to them?

Camp will only be successful if we can give kids the skills

and strategies to deal with the outside world.

The outside world is, there are fast food restaurants,

there are sugar-sweetened beverages,

and if we don't prepare our kids for that environment,

we're going to fail them.

Unlike the other campers,

Aran chose to have a packed lunch instead of the fast food.

-So, you're happy you picked that over the McDonald's, yeah?

-Yeah.

I came here to lose weight.

McDonald's is just going to put it back on,

so a sandwich is the healthy option.

Why's that? Do you just feel better for it, or...?

-I feel better.

-Yeah?

-That's a good choice.

-It is. And it's nicer.

-Yeah?

'Every Wednesday, our trip day, is the chance for us to'

put into practice what we've learned in the lifestyle sessions.

So that's a kind of test of self-control.

It's not a happy meal for Jordan.

We've got no sugar. We've got no water. We've got no Sprite.

We've got no salad.

'I think he felt like he was missing a food item'

but I cross checked my Excel spreadsheet, cross checked the food

order at McDonald's, and he had it in front of him.

Have you got any more milk? I might need one more sugar. Yeah.

And one more milk.

-Jordan, what are you doing?

-I'm missing my milk.

-But you've had your milk in your tea.

-I haven't.

You've had the same as everybody else. You can't just take it like

-that. There's milk in your tea.

-It's not. It's black tea.

-Pass the milk back to me, please.

-Why?

-Because you have milk in your tea. Now you're being...

-Look...

-Now you're just being greedy.

-How am I being greedy?

-You've had...

-Two bits of milk? Would you drink that?

-I don't drink tea, so no.

-That's it, then. That's it.

Don't talk to me, please. Don't talk to me.

Fucking hate it here. It's fucking shit.

They're ridiculous. They don't have a clue. I'm telling you.

They don't have a clue.

'Jordan wanted more milk in his tea.'

Also he wanted more sugar within his tea as well, which obviously

is not something that he's allowed because it would take him

'above the 800 calories that we've allowed for him to have for his lunch.'

She's so rude. How can she call me greedy? It's just really rude.

'I reflected a lot on that situation'

and perhaps how I could have dealt with it better but I still

stand very strongly with my decision and some people may think it's

pathetic that all he wanted was an extra sachet of milk but for me it

was really important that he learns to have discipline and self-control.

I'd rather go with the chips and a burger.

I don't feel guilty at all because they gave us

a certain amount of calories and they obviously do this every

year and it hasn't made a difference.

Because I have such an addictive personality I think

'after here I'm going to have to try and completely avoid all the bad foods

'cos I think I can easily'

fall back into my usual routine.

'It's going to be difficult. The fact that they've had all this control.

'They've had all of us encouraging them to do the right thing.'

They now need to do that for themselves.

After lunch the campers can spend £10 of their own pocket money.

It's another deliberate temptation.

Sometimes we have a binge day.

I bought a pot of Pringles, a pack of cookies and two sausage rolls

but I'm sharing them with someone else so... I don't know. Yeah.

I feel as though cos I haven't had one of those days in a while

and it's about having one of those days

and then getting back on track cos I don't think you can

completely avoid those foods at all cos they're there.

I just feel really guilty now.

I feel like... I don't know. Really guilty.

-I don't think I'm going to eat it.

-Shall we literally go and return it?

I don't think you can return food. I don't have a receipt.

I'm going to go and ask the security man. Come with me.

Katie decides to return everything.

I've never really felt like that before.

Usually I'm just like, "whatever", but I felt so guilty then.

With Katie's £10 that she was allowed to spend

she made some poor food choices.

'After doing that she had the chance to self reflect'

and the healthy decision was the one she made.

MUSIC: All About That Bass by Meghan Trainor

-THEY SING ALONG:

-# I'm all about that bass

# 'Bout that bass No trouble

# I'm all about that bass

# 'Bout that bass No trouble

# I'm all about that bass 'Bout that bass

# I'm bringing booty back... #

Tonight there's a disco.

A chance for the girls and the boys to socialise with each other.

I don't know any other time we've really been able to talk

to them properly.

I... Yeah, so...

They don't trust us. They think we're going to get pregnant.

KATIE LAUGHS

We're at fat camp. There's not going to be any good-looking boys.

-It's true.

-Well, let's not be judgmental.

-I mean...

-You said that.

-We're big too, so...

Yeah, but still it's true. Everyone says it.

'Back home I know a few boys did like me

'but I didn't really take interest'

in it because I didn't believe it.

Boys don't look at fat girls. They just think that's minging, don't they?

If you're really, really big I wouldn't go nowhere near you.

I think getting a boyfriend is a lot harder when you're heavier

because everyone is so judgmental of each other.

'If you're going to have a boyfriend

you want to one that's going to like you, no matter what.'

If it's based on looks v friendship then there's no point.

'I'm not really bothered because I've got GCSEs coming up and things'

but that would be nice to like, I don't know, be liked.

MUSIC PLAYS

For the staff the disco means being extra vigilant.

'We have something called snog watch so we do actually,'

the staff are very much on top of seeing what's going on.

We're on snog alert tonight.

There's a lot of little young romances going on

so we're keeping our eye out for that.

Holding hands - absolutely fine. A hug - absolutely fine.

But when it starts to progress that's when you start to think,

"Hang on, we're just going to keep an extra eye on you there."

And we do know a few girls have a few crushes on some of the boys

but we're not too sure who that is. So we're keeping an eye out.

It's actually quite funny, particularly the younger ones.

In a relationship for about two days then it's over if at that.

That's like, "Oh, my God, I was in such a long-term relationship. We were together all week."

MUSIC PLAYS

-INTERVIEWER:

-So how was the disco?

-The disco was rubbish.

It was very boring.

We talked to a couple of the boys but...as friends.

But, like, yeah, it was quite boring.

It wasn't like a usual party.

-I don't know.

-INTERVIEWER:

-Why?

I would say why. Cos it has no alcohol.

Yeah.

I'm not going to lie. Any disco without alcohol is not a real disco.

SHOUTING

It's the start of week four

and Lana is beginning to take the exercise sessions more seriously.

Sit ups, girls. Come on. And off you go, girls. As many as you can.

You can do it. Keep going. Just work through it.

Well done. Well done.

But socially she's still feeling isolated.

And she's fallen out with her room mate.

'Sometimes room pairings don't work. It is all pot luck and sometimes'

there is a clash of personalities.

'At the moment Lana isn't getting on with Solenn so we're going to

'move another camper, Destiny, into the room.'

'My first impression of Destiny'

is that she is the complete opposite of me.

'She's a girlie girl.

She had loads of make up. You look at my side, there's nothing there.

You look at hers it's just like full.

When I first started packing I just put my shoes in and

then I thought, "I've got five pair of shoes already". But it's fine.

I need lots of stuff.

'And I've brought enough for about three years. There's too much.'

I shouldn't have brought all I brought.

I didn't need it but oh, well, it's done.

Destiny from Swinton in South Yorkshire is 14 and weighs 13st.

This will be her third time at camp.

You used to eat a lot of junk. You weren't educated on food.

-You were quite chubby there, weren't you?

-Quite? That's being nice.

In year seven I got bullied ridiculously.

I've been called all sorts. I'm obese. I'm a pig. I'm disgusting.

I'm vile. And I just used to go home and cry.

And my mum would ask what was wrong and I would just say,

"Nowt, it doesn't matter."

-Yeah, but you've come a long way since then.

-I know that.

The reason I'm going back for a third time is I think

I could do with a boost to help me get along with t'journey

and I need to come to end now, I think.

Previous camps have helped her lose 2st

and boosted her confidence and self worth.

When I went to camp I was 12 and I was 14 or 15st. And I was big. I was a size 18.

And at 12 years old I don't think that's appropriate at all.

'Two years ago she was half the person she is.

'She didn't have any confidence. She just used to stay'

in her room. She was quite depressed for a young girl.

Her schoolwork wasn't fantastic.

This time she's won English star of the year this year

so that's all down to her confidence as well, I think.

It says Diva Destiny because obviously I was a diva.

I was loud and in-your-face. Pretty much

if you don't want to be friends with me you have no choice, you had to, cos I'm Destiny.

I've got a new room mate.

Someone called Destiny. Yeah.

15.

Sometimes the right room pairing

can have more of a positive impact than we can.

'Hopefully having Lana in a room with Destiny,

'Destiny can really help Lana come out of her shell.'

It's karaoke night. Whoo! So I've just got to pick something to wear now.

Last year everyone dressed up and wore skirts and stuff.

-I was going to sing but then I was like, no.

-Oh, sing. Go on, have a sing.

I didn't know the lyrics to the song I was going to sing.

I knew a bit of it but not all of it.

And if I got the songs wrong I'd be like, "Mm",

and I was scared what other people would think and say.

Don't... Honestly, never worry about what other people have to think about you.

Just think about yourself cos at the end of the day, what does it matter what other people think?

It's you you should be trying to please, not anyone else.

Lana used to put herself down so quickly.

She'd make a good thing a bad thing.

No-one is going to judge you.

Cos everyone's the same. It's like me. I wear what I want.

-Like, literally...

-What are you going to sing in the karaoke?

..I wouldn't wear something like this a few months ago.

-I'll probably never wear anything like that.

-Why?

-Because I've got stretch marks.

-No-one cares. Honestly.

-No-one cares.

-Everyone here is like the same.

-We're all family.

-Yes.

It's like when I was trying to talk to her about changing who

she is, she thought it was so hard

and she couldn't get it into her head that you can change.

She just thought she was stuck like that forever.

You don't believe in yourself enough.

You need that bit of confidence and motivation.

It's the final week and the last two mile challenge.

-Run for the Nando's.

-That'll do.

Over the five weeks they've been here,

Katie and Lana have struggled with the demands of the weekly run.

Come on, you can go quicker than that. Come on.

When I was running the 2MC I was thinking,

"This is it, I'm going to collapse. I'm going to have a heart attack.

"I'm going to die."

Come on, Lana. Keep going. Don't you dare walk on me.

Katie is off to a determined start

but she will have to work hard to beat her best time of 36 minutes.

Really out of breath. My stitch has gone, touch wood.

I think I've beaten my time. I hope.

'It is hard when you have weight problems when you are young'

cos all my friends are like really thin.

Nobody in my year is the weight I am.

They think I'd be a lot happier and a lot healthier if I lost weight.

CHEERING

All the way to that line. Keep going.

CHEERING

-Five minutes, Katie. High five.

-What did you get?

Katie smashed her best time by six minutes.

I'm quite tired, but I feel more positive

cos obviously the hormones have released and stuff. Endorphins.

SHE LAUGHS

Keep pushing. Just run to me.

Pippa set Lana the goal of running rather than walking

the two mile challenge.

Come on, Lana, keep going.

You're doing so well. You're going to thrash it at this rate.

Pippa's encouragement

and help in the 2MC,

the last one, I don't think

I would have run it

without her help.

Come on, Lana.

Just think of what an amazing achievement it's going to be.

So proud of you. All downhill now. Let the gravity take you.

CHEERING

Lana! Lana! Lana! Lana!

CHEERING

You did so well. Well done. High five.

'Although I was pushing her really hard I knew'

she could accomplish it if she really pushed herself.

35 minutes, 14. That's amazing. That's six minutes off.

Well done.

This was my choice and I'm trying

to make a difference with myself.

I'm in charge of my own willpower.

LAUGHTER

As camp draws to a close it's not just Lana

and Katie who have found new motivation.

Instead of sitting out, Aran is taking part too.

That feels good.

I've only got several days left so I might as well make it worth it.

'He stepped it up a bit this week and he didn't give up once'

and he's gone right through it so I'm really proud of him.

'He is saying himself that he's only got a few days left

'so he wants to get the most out of this.'

So that shows a good mind shift, a good behaviour change in him in such a short space of time.

When I came here, I didn't know anyone and I didn't want to.

Now most of these people are my friends.

I think Aran likes his own solitude sometimes.

I don't think there's anything wrong with him

spending his time to himself sometimes

because he does come out and speak to the others when he feels like it.

Watch what you do with my hair!

Aran does need this.

He needs this knowledge and he needs to make the change now.

But he understands that, which is great, and is half the battle.

I just realised what you were doing!

When I came here, I didn't feel like my own person.

These last two weeks have been important.

They have put up my self-confidence and at least I'm trying to change.

Five weeks completed and camp is coming to an end.

For all the kids, there's a final weigh-in.

OK, well done.

Katie managed to beat the target she set for herself.

I've lost a stone and a pound, which is really good.

I was aiming for over a stone

so I achieved my goal, which is really nice.

Lana had never set any goals for herself

until Pippa set her a target of losing three pounds each week.

We'll just do your waist circumference

if you want to step off for me.

In the last week alone, Lana has lost five pounds,

just under a stone in total.

Before, I didn't go out of the house much.

I'll probably after camp, because I think I've got more confident.

You should be really happy with that.

That's really good in five weeks of camp.

So, well done!

Aran is worried that unless he loses weight,

he could end up needing bypass surgery like his sister.

-There it is.

-124.1.

In the last two weeks, Aaron has lost six pounds.

You've lost three kilograms in two weeks.

That's about six or seven pounds.

-6.6 to be exact.

-Yeah, well done.

So that's healthy weight loss so that's good.

You don't want to be losing much more than that.

My waist circumference has gone down as well. Not that much.

He certainly has come out of his shell a bit.

There's a big difference between the way he was with other kids

when he got here and the way he is now.

The camp's talent show is a final test of the kids' confidence.

When we position talent shows it's thought through

because we know that it takes that amount of time before

they start to reach that point where they're going to get up on stage.

We know they're starting to feel more confident, expressive,

and that gives them the opportunity to do it.

I think it's actually pretty dark.

I did my make-up in the morning.

She looked at me and said, you're so pretty.

I'm like, make-up's not everything,

it doesn't make you look pretty, it's just an extra bit.

One day, I'll do yours

and then I thought about it and I thought, what if I do it tonight?

It'll give her a confidence boost.

I said, if you sing, I'll do your make-up.

She was like, do I sing or do I not? I'm not doing it.

I'm like, you are!

Do you want to put that on your lips and then you're done?

Even the more confident campers struggle with being centre stage.

Fuck, I'm literally shitting myself.

My mum is all about me singing in front of an audience.

"Katie, yeah, you've got to do all of these things, sing, sing.

"If I could sing, I would stand up and sing to everyone!"

I'm like, no, you wouldn't.

I don't know, I just don't think I'm that good at all.

CHEERING

# Sometimes I go out by myself

# And I look across the water

# Since I've come home, my body's been a mess...#

Before, I feel really nervous and when I'm performing,

I feel really confident.

I guess I learned that I can be strong.

# Why don't you come on over, Valerie?

# Oh, Valerie

# Why don't you come on over, Valerie? #

APPLAUSE

One of my favourite things about camp

is seeing the difference in their confidence.

For me, it's seeing them when they feel better about themselves,

then actually get up on stage at the talent show and singing

in front of all the campers, which they would never have done before.

CHEERING

# I'm criticised but all your bullets ricochet

# You shoot me down but I get up... #

When Lana sung, I thought she was very brave because she's showing

what she can do.

She didn't care what people thought about her.

# I'm bullet-proof, nothing to lose... #

I hope when I'm old enough I want to audition for X Factor.

I absolutely love it.

# You should be down but I won't fall... #

And she did it. I'm like, she's actually done it!

I'm so proud of her, knowing that that was her fear and she'd done it.

The positive thing about karaoke was that I wasn't hiding behind people.

-Well done, I'm so proud of you.

-That was an amazing achievement.

She shone. She did so well and we were all so proud of her.

-I do feel proud of myself.

-Come and give me a hug. There you go.

I'm happy that I got up on the stage, sang

and didn't want to puke up.

So camp is a relatively short period of time

and we see massive changes in their weight,

we see massive changes in how they think

and how they feel and how confident they are.

It's got the ball rolling and definitely I'm going to continue

when I get home, for sure.

Since camp, Aran has started college and made more friends

but his weight remains a problem.

Lana has maintained the weight she lost at camp

and she's feeling more confident at school too.

Katie has lost a total of 30 pounds and this summer,

she plans to trek around Vietnam with her school.

Next time: Amy is full of attitude.

Fat bitch coming through.

You ginger bitch!

And Stephen's in big trouble.

SOBS