Liverpool City Council is trialing free family fitness sessions as part of a campaign to fight childhood obesity in the city.

The trials were launched in co-operation with the city’s Primary Care Trusts following the results of comprehensive research into youth obesity.

The two-year survey saw some 13,000 Liverpool children in 88 primary schools and 15 secondary schools, interviewed about their health and diet and tested on their fitness.

Part of the council’s SportsLinx project, which was launched in 1996 to improve the health and fitness of children in Liverpool, the report was compiled in conjunction with John Moores University.

The research found that 50 per cent of 11-year-old boys and 40 per cent of 11-year-old girls were overweight and one in three did not meet the government’s target of exercising for one hour a day.

Children’s fitness levels have dropped since the last SportsLinx project was conducted in 2000.

The free family sessions are one of a number of recommendations made by the report and six families have already joined the three-month pilot scheme.

“We feel we can break the cycle by working with the biggest influence on children – their parents,” says SportsLinx coordinator, Liz Lamb.

The sessions take place once a week at Peter Lloyd Leisure Centre, which has treadmills, steppers and bikes suitable for 8- to 16-year-olds.

Led by an instructor, families will be given an exercise programme and a nutritionist will visit them in their homes once a week to advise on healthy eating.

The council aims to expand the scheme to one year as more families join up. It also plans to develop a children’s exercise referral programme – another of the report’s recommendations – after monitoring the success of the scheme.