Mr. Gregg Starr:

I thank the committee for the opportunity to come here today. On the effect of "Operation Transformation", because I was part of a group last year and lost a great deal of weight, and then wanted to step it up to become a leader this year to continue my weight loss, we saw our group grow. We now have over 100 members. Twenty-four of them are under the age of 18, some as young as eight years of age. Some are heavy, some are not. Some are involved in it for the physical fitness and social side of it. We never discussed individuals' weight with them but what was discussed was how much they were losing per week.

With the younger children, especially, it became nearly a competition among themselves and they thrived on it. Obviously, the heavier children were losing a bit more and they were winning. The children loved it. They were focused, not on their weight but on how well they were doing each week because, as anyone who works with children will know, they do not have a very long attention span.

I help coach the under eights in rugby and I have seen children of all sizes and shapes coming to us. It is having an effect on them. Obviously, the first week they came down because they wanted to go on television, but we are getting increasing numbers of children in and getting them out running. It has just been fantastic. Even if they stop after "Operation Transformation" or if the group dies off, it is two months' exercise a year that they were not getting last year or the year before. Those are the little steps that might help if they can get into the 80% bracket further down the line.