Overweight middle school students are set to benefit from a new summer camp programme designed especially to fight obesity and promote healthier lifestyles.

The pilot camp, which is known by its acronym PHAST (Promoting Health at Any Size Today), will run between July 5 and August 6 at Northlands Primary school.

The promotion of healthier habits, such as physical activity and an increased awareness of nutrition, is a key part of the camp, said Norbert Simons, camp coordinator at the Department of Youth, Sport and Recreation, who has been organising PHAST for the past year.

The department is also offering teens and children nine other health conscious day camps which all centre around the theme "Do More in 2004 ? Be Healthy".

Like PHAST, these camps will held from July 5 to August 6.

"This year, the theme for the summer day camp programme is designed to encompass all aspects of health," said the Press release.

Also included are two camps specifically for teens ? "Girls II Ladies" and "Boys II Men" ? and one for pre-school age children called "Head start".

"The teen programmes have been going on since the camp programme started well over 30 years ago," said Mr. Simons.

"The focus is on teaching teenagers, aged between 11 and 15, different skills but especially job related ones. They learn how to fill out applications and skills for interviewing. We also have companies which give the teens great practice by staging rigourous interviews for the them."

The teen camps will have a maximum of 40 participants.

The boys' teen camps will be held at Devonshire Recreation Club while the girls will go to St. Paul's Christian Education Centre.

"The Head start camp, at Northlands Primary School, is for children who have just finished pre-school and are going to primary school in September," said Mr. Simons. Head start will have 70 children.

Alongside these speciality camps will be six camps for primary school students, which will be held at the following schools across the Island ? Port Royal Primary, Heron Bay Primary, Gilbert Institute, West Pembroke Primary, Prospect Primary and Francis Patton School.

Each camp will have approximately 100 students.

Parents may register children for the camps between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. at the Department of Youth, Sports, and Recreation.

The teen camps and PHAST camps are $60 per week and the various primary school camps are $40 per week until 3 p.m. and $45 if the children stay until 5:45 p.m.

For more information, parents can call the camp office at 295-0855.