<text>  A schoolboy who says he was so overweight and unfit he looked like a tomato after PE lessons decided to put himself on a diet - and shed almost three stone. Owen Clarke, 12, weighed 10st 8lb 67kg last summer and says he was embarrassed by his size, and because he got so red and sweaty after exercise. He begged his mother to let him join her on a diet so he was fit enough to play football with his friends. And after swapping chocolate bars for low-fat yogurts, the 54 schoolboy is now a healthy 8st 50kg. Owen Clarke, 12, weighed 10st 8lbs left and was embarrassed as he was so unfit he looked like a tomato after a PE lesson. He decided to put himself on a diet, and managed to lose nearly three stone right Owen lost weight by giving up biscuits, chocolate bars and sausage rolls and instead snacking on yogurts, homemade scotch eggs, cucumber and carrot sticks . His efforts inspired his mother, Michelle Hatfield, to re-evaluate the food she was feeding her family, as she didnt realise her son was overweight in the first place. The 33-year-old has now swapped convenience foods ans takeaways for meals made from scratch, crediting the change on her sons desire to be healthier. Owen, from Leicester, said: I was a bit lazy before losing weight and didnt enjoy sport that much. BEFORE . Breakfast: One large bowl of coco pops . Lunch: Two sandwiches with cheese, one full fat yogurt, one bag of crisps, one chocolate bar. Dinner: Pizza, chips and full-fat barbecue sauce. Snacks: Biscuits, chocolate bars and sausage rolls. AFTER . Breakfast: 38g of puffed wheat with sweetener. Lunch: Two wholemeal bread ham sandwiches, one packet of crisps, an apple . Dinner: Homemade spaghetti bolognese. Snacks: Muller yogurts, homemade scotch eggs, cucumber and carrot sticks. I remember hating it because Id get really tired and Id look like a tomato after PE but thats all changed now. Nobody really said anything bad to me about my weight but I couldnt play football with all my friends and I wanted to change. Now I absolutely love football and I play for at least an hour every day. I never used to enjoy PE and felt a bit left out but now thats all changed. I feel like I can compete and enjoy myself without getting embarrassed. When he started losing weight in January 2014, Owen was 51 tall. His weight meant he was technically classed as obese, as he had Body Mass Index BMI in the 99th centile of the BMI chart. After losing more than two stone in five months, he now has a healthy BMI. Owens efforts made Ms Hatfield realise it was the food she fed him that made him pile on the pounds. She said: It all started when I decided I wanted to lose some weight on a slimming world plan and went home to tell the family that I was going to change my diet. It didnt take long for Owen to ask if he could join me. We always ate convenience food because its so much cheaper. Id been brought up that way and Ive never known anything different. One afternoon, Owen came over to me and asked if he could change his diet too. Before he lost weight, Owens BMI meant he was obese. After losing weight pictured left and right, he has a BMI in the healthy range . Owen swapped chocolate and sausage rolls for low fat yoghurts and cucumber and carrot sticks. He is now able to play football with his friends, and plays for up to an hour a day . Ms Hatfield, who dropped from 13st 8lbs 86kg to 11st 1lbs 70kg at the same time as Owen said she never saw her son as being overweight. She said: When he first asked me if he could do it too, it made me feel awful. Id never looked at him and thought he was fat or overweight. Hes my son and you just dont look at your children like that. Id obviously noticed but until he came to ask me that, Id always dismissed his weight as nothing more than puppy fat. It took me a while to get my head around it because I couldnt get over the fact that it was my fault. Im his mother and its always been my responsibility to feed him. Ms Hatfield said: Owen made me realise how irresponsible Id been with the food I was buying That moment when he asked if he could join me at Slimming World finally made me realise how irresponsible Id been with the food I was buying in. Im really proud of Owen because he did this all on his own back and its inspired me to think differently about the food I put on the table. He wasnt pushed to lose weight at any stage, hes just got his head down and done it. Even though I was initially pretty ashamed of myself, I couldnt be any more proud of Owen. His transformation has been amazing and I feel like a better mother too. Hes been so determined from the very start and hes had the discipline to maintain the weight loss. Now when I take him to the supermarket, hes out looking for Muller Light rather than chocolate trifles! Owen added: My attitude towards food has completely changed too. Ive actually started to see the grease on takeaways and it puts me off. Im really proud of how much weight Ive lost and my friends at school have noticed too. My friends have all said congratulations and are really impressed with how much Ive managed to lose. Owens dad, Lee Clarke, has also noticed his sons remarkable transformation when he cares for him at weekends. Mr Clarke, who works at Dunelm Mill, said: It really is amazing. Im so proud of him. Its done wonders for his confidence and its just great to see. One in five children now leaves primary school obese, official figures show . More than three quarters of parents refuse to admit their child is overweight, as official figures show one in five children now leaves primary school obese. Researchers at Imperial College London found 77 per cent of parents claimed their overweight child was normal. Among those who did accept their child was too fat, many claimed it was just puppy fat or their genes. Others said their child was just solid or that they had a big build. The study came as official figures found the number of obese 11-year-olds has increased since previous years. Experts warned that lifestyle habits are ingrained by the time a child is 11. Mr Tam Fry, of the National Obesity Forum, warned: Those 11-year-olds are probably going to end up as obese adults. Other experts say the problem of childhood obesity is compounded by the fact parents often dont realise, or refuse to admit, that their child is fat. 