An obesity expert last night branded Bermuda's schools system "a disgrace" for not dedicating more of children's time to physical activity. Jane DeVille-Almond, of the UK's National Obesity Forum, said schoolchildren were only made to do 100 minutes exercise or leisure studies a week — about 20 minutes a day.

She said this was nowhere near enough to help combat alarming new figures which show one in three five- to ten-year-olds on the Island is overweight or obese.

Speaking at a Well Bermuda Partnership reception to mark the end of a week-long series of anti-obesity meetings, Ms DeVille-Almond said: "I don't care about any of you adults, because you are old enough to look after yourselves. But what I do care about is that you are actually killing your children.

"Our children are likely to live less long than we are. Schools have part of the responsibility. In schools now, you only have 100 minutes a week physical activity. It's a disgrace."

Ms DeVille-Almond later told The Royal Gazette that schools should spend less time on subjects such as French and geography, which she said were less useful in the real world, and have at least one hour exercise a day. She said she had learned worrying trends from speaking to schools during her week on the Island.

"They say they can't run around in schools because of the dangers of tripping over. One of the schools said they were encouraging the kids to stay inside at lunch time so they could let their lunch go down," she said.

"They should have an hour a day exercise. It stimulates the brain, encourages them to feel on a high, and they are more open to learning. I spoke to the Health Minister (Michael Scott). I said that's one of the most serious issues you have. I think the Health Minister, together with the Ministry of Education, should work out how they can change that, because it needs changing."

Mr. Scott declined to say whether he would raise the issue with Education Minister Randolph Horton, but said he believed physical exercise for children was vital.

"It's totally important for our children to behave the way I did as a child," said Mr. Scott.

Referring to a slide show Ms DeVille-Almond had given highlighting pictures of obese youngsters, he continued: "We took a lot more exercise, hence we didn't have to congress together and look at pictures of overweight children. We just didn't. The thing is out of control."

Bermuda's Health Promotion Coordinator Jennifer Attride-Stirling also spoke at the Elbow Beach Hotel event, which was attended by about 70 people from across the community, including health workers, teachers and supermarket representatives.

"You are people who can help us achieve better health even though you are not necessarily health workers directly," said Dr. Attride-Stirling.

The Ministry of Education did not respond to a request for a comment by press time last night.