Obese students should not be forced to attend sports lessons because it lowers their self-esteem, an Australian study says.
Instead, overweight children should be allowed to play sport in special classes away from their slimmer peers, the Sydney University report urged.
And they might be better taught by teachers who had a weight problem of their own, it suggested.
The findings followed a survey of 450 children aged 11 to 14 at two Sydney schools.
One of the report's authors, Jennifer O'Dea, said overweight children often became trapped in a vicious cycle, refusing to exercise because they felt they were poor at traditional sports.
But given the option of pursuing sport away from their more athletic counterparts, most of the fatter youngsters were in favour of the idea.
