A gym for children, from babies to teenagers, could soon be opening.

Gymfinity Kids, a leading provider of recreational and gymnastics and ninja clubs, has applied to take over a unit at the former Dickens World venue at Dockside in Chatham.

Plans also include a nursery and an expansion of the existing Nando's restaurant across the first floor.

The proposal has been welcomed by fitness and nutrition expert Laura Church amid growing fears of obesity problems among youngsters across Medway.

More than one in five children finishing primary school in the Towns are overweight.

NHS Digital figures show that 21% of Year 6 pupils in 2017-18 were obese of which 4.5% were severely obese.

Ms Church, a fitness and nutrition expert believes the children's gym is a "brilliant idea".

She said: " Exercise should be fun, especially for children. But it does not work unless people know what they are putting into their bodies. It's 75% nutrition and 25% exercise. It's about healthy living and not dieting."

Ms Church takes youngsters through their paces and educates them about eating habits from the age of three at the after-school sessions on Tuesday and Thursday at Elm Court, Capstone.

Medway Council hosts an annual seminar looking at ways of tackling obesity with a wide range of professionals and organisations taking part.

It has introduced guidance on planning applications for new fast-food outlets within a close proximity of schools.

Gymfinity Kids has six centres across England and if the application is approved it will be the first in Kent.

In custom-built clubs across the country, trained coaches nurture children week in week out through a range of programmes including baby balance, pre-school, ninja and gymnastics as well as added bonuses like adult classes, kid’s night out, holiday camps and birthday parties.

The company's website states: "Our goal is to inspire children to keep fit, improve their health, strength and wellbeing, but above all to have fun. We’ll take your child’s love of being active to Gymfinity…and beyond!

"We help children develop the skills to cope with new challenges, socialise with others, and improve coordination skills by providing a high standard of coaching, a wide range of club activities, and a state of the art environment that is fun for all levels and abilities.

"We offer all the traditional equipment such as beams, bars and vaults, plus we also have monkey bars, trampolines, rigs, slides and much more."

Read more: All the latest news from Medway

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