The study of 4400 female students found that seven percent were at high risk of disorders such as bulimia and anorexia, with many of them former or current members of the Trim and Fit programme (TAF).

TAF, which carries the unfortunate reverse acronym of FAT, involves overwight students being separated from their school friends for compulsory exercises up to five times a week.

In some schools, only thin students are given colourful "I'm Trim and Fit" wristbands to wear, while TAF members are banned from eating certain foods at the canteen.

The TAF program was launched in 1992 and the government credits it with helping to cut the number of overweight students from 14 percent in that year to 10 percent in 2003.

However the program is a cause of concern for many parents, who feel the potential weight loss benefits for their children are outweighed by the pyschological pressures and the inevitable name calling.

"After the first two weeks in TAF, my son would not eat rice or bread," the Straits Times quoted Theresa Tan, whose son has been in the programme for three years, as saying.

"I agree my son needs to lose weight, but I wish the school would involve all the kids, overweight and normal. And could they not make it fun?"

The paper quoted another mother as saying her secondary-school daughter went from 60 kilograms (132 pounds) to 48 kilograms in five months on the TAF program, but only realised afterwards that she vomited after every meal.

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