A THREE-YEAR experiment designed to boost the activity levels of children has been declared a success - despite research which appears to show it had the opposite effect.

Between 2003 and last year, £225,000 was invested in child exercise programmes involving children from 11 secondary and 12 primary schools in Wear Valley, Weardale and Teesdale, County Durham.

However, it has been difficult to prove that the scheme has resulted in children taking more daily exercise.

An evaluation based on comments from 100 children showed that school-based activities "had not caused a shift in the daily energy expenditure of participants".

However, officials said this apparent failure reflected the difficulty in obtaining reliable information about activity levels from children.

Officials believe the County Durham pilot was a success and, nationally, the overall view is that the experiment did increase overall activity levels among target groups.

The programme was one of ten pilots across England.

Funded by the Department of Health, Sport England and the Countryside Agency, the aim was to find ways of encouraging less active children to do more exercise.

The initiative - known as Leap, or Local Exercise Action Pilot - linked existing school and community programmes, lesiure services, school nurses, community associations and the voluntary sector.

About 300 children took part in the Leap programme, which involved a range of activities from abseiling to log running and new age kurling to yoga.

Yesterday, the formal evaluation of the Durham Dales Primary Care Trust Leap Project was unveiled at a presentation at the Riverside County Cricket Ground. in Chester-le-Street, County Durham.

Researcher Albert Potts said: "Across many of the school-based activity programmes, it was clear that children were engaged and enthused by the activities put into place."

Particular successes were activities such as new age kurling and non-traditional circuit training, which placed an emphasis on fun.

Mr Potts said it was also clear that alternative PE classes known as SAQ (speed, agility, quickness) had been popular with non-sporty children and could be useful in engaging youngsters in health-promoting physical activities.