Gu Jia/Shanghai Daily news

A club in a local school which aims to help its obese students to lose weight in a healthy way should arouse the public interest, reported today's Oriental Morning Post.
Shanghai Gold Apple School, in Jinqiao Pudong, is a boarding school for students aged from 4 to 19.  The school set up a physical exercise club recently for the 16.7 per cent. of its students who were classified as obese in a health exam undertaken by the school clinic.
"We strongly oppose the popular ways of losing weight, such as taking certain medicines or even having an operation, " explained Wang Zhanjun, a teacher from the school.
"As long as the students stick to our physical exercise plan and the special diet menu designed for them individually by the club, they will be back to normal in no time." Wang explained.
However, most weighty students at the school, especially the girls, refuse to join the club as they are afraid to be laughed at or stigmatized by others if they do so.  Even those in the club also revolt against being labelled as fat.
"I am here for fun, not because of my physique" said a 12-year-old male at the club. "There are so many interesting exercises. "  The boy is 158 centimeters tall, and weighs 79 kilograms.