AN ACADEMIC from Chester is to become a TV star in a new series about weight loss.

Professor Kevin Sykes, director of the university's internationally-renowned Centre for Exercise and Nutrition Science, has been asked to join Rosemary Conley, Professor Raj Persaud and Dr Hilary Jones.

He will take part in the series to be screened on ITV1 in September, provisionally entitled Slim to Win, which will track six overweight members of the public as they battle to shed the pounds.

Cameras will visit Chester this week when the programme’s subjects undergo a 30-minute health assessment in the University’s state-of-the-art fitness centre.

Prof Sykes, who has written nine books and more than 100 papers in scientific and professional journals, said the focus of the series will be on a healthy approach to weight loss.

He said: “We are looking to emphasise the value of moderate as opposed to painful exercise, in conjunction with a sensible diet.

“There will not be a fad diet or fad exercise regime in sight. We have gone for a six-month time frame because we feel it will give us a realistic view of the permanence of their lifestyle changes.”

Professor Sykes, who is an international TV and radio broadcaster, is renowned as an expert in the field and is author of the Chester Step Test, which is widely used in workplace medico-fitness screening.

He is Professor of Occupational Health & Fitness at the international postgraduate Centre for Exercise and Nutrition Science, and is also a member of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Obesity, the Westminster Diet and Health Forum and the National Obesity Forum, and as well as being Scientific Chair of the British Association of Cardiac Rehabilitation.

The series will track the six men and women, three weighing over 20 stone, as they combine classes at Rosemary Conley Health and Fitness Clubs with special exercise and dietary programmes.

Mary Morris, who graduated from the university two years ago with an MSc in Exercise and Nutrition Science, is Rosemary Conley’s training manager and will be designing the exercise programme.

The participants will return to the university in August for tests.

liammurphy