Jo Frost Extreme Parental Guidance

Jo Frost, Britain's best known parenting expert, returns with a brand new series providing mums and dads with the honest, insightful, no-nonsense advice they need. In the first programme, Jo looks into violent computer games and what effect they have on a game player's behaviour. Working with Professor Doug Gentile, who has done extensive research into the effects of violent media on children, Jo splits forty 12-year-old boys into two groups, one playing a football game, and the others playing a violent game, to see what impact the different games have on behaviour. Jo also meets Kiran, a four-year-old girl who has only ever eaten sweets. Wearing the clothes of a one-year-old and falling behind in her development, Kiran's eating habits have even led her parents to attempt force-feeding. Jo also spends time with 11-year-old Bronwyn, a girl who hates her appearance and cries daily about the way she looks, comparing herself to celebrities in magazines.

Jo meets two families at the end of their tether. In Glasgow she visits Madison, a nine-year-old beauty queen who has always been given everything she ever wanted, from hand made dresses to £200 tracksuits. But her family have paid a heavy price for such largesse, both financially and emotionally. In Blackpool, Jo meets Bailey, a ten-year-old-boy who spends up to 80 hours a week playing online computer games, while his Mum struggles to cope with two demanding younger sisters. Also, in this episode's Big Event Jo stages one of the biggest child fitness tests in decades. Working with Leeds Metropolitan University, who recently re-discovered the results of a 1959 test measuring fitness levels of more than 3,000 seven to ten year olds, Jo puts 80 of today's ten year olds through the same tests to see how they compare.

Jo tackles two of today's toughest and most controversial parenting issues, attention-deficit-hyperactivity-disorder and obesity. In Middlesex she meets a family struggling to cope with seven-year-old Regan, who has recently been diagnosed with ADHD. In Manchester she visits Josh, a ten-year-old boy already classed as obese. And in a revealing study, Jo investigates how young girls really feel about their bodies. With the number of children admitted to hospital with eating disorders rising by 80% over the last 10 years, Jo joins forces with Professor Teri Apter of Cambridge University to find out what mums and dads can do to protect their daughters. Groups of girls aged six, nine and twelve, all with healthy body weights, are invited to have their photos taken before the images are digitally altered to show three bodies getting thinner and three getting bigger. Each girl is asked which image they thought was accurate and in contrast, which one they'd most like to look like. The startling results reveal many perceived themselves as being larger than they really are and that many already wanted to be thinner.

Jo takes on the daily battle over food, one of the most common issues faced by mums and dads up and down the country. In Nottingham she meets a family whose seven-year-old son Rio eats almost nothing but bread and butter. As well as impacting on Rio's health and development, it turns every meal time into an emotional struggle. Jo also visits a family in Birmingham whose three-year-old daughter Katie-Ann constantly pulls her hair out, leaving bald patches all over her head. After trying everything they can to get her to stop, Katie-Ann's parents hope a visit from Jo will finally provide a solution. And continuing her investigations into commonly held parenting beliefs, in this week's big event Jo examines the link between sugar and hyperactivity. Working with Dr David Daley, a specialist in hyperactive behaviour, Jo throws a party for 40 six-year-olds to discover whether different diets have any impact on their energy levels.

Jo looks at one of the most stressful parenting issues: getting your children to sleep. In Woolwich, Jo visits six-year-old Paige, who has never slept a full night in her own bed: meaning that her mum hasn't had more than four hours uninterrupted sleep in over six years. Also, with the number of obese six-year-olds doubling over the last ten years, and one third of children being obese by the age of 11, Jo works with Dr Laura McGowan, chartered psychologist and Research Associate at University College London, to discover the impact of calories and portion sizes on children's health. Jo hosts a lunch party for 40 eight-year-olds, with 20 children given a meal providing the right number of calories for their age, and the other table of 20 given double the amount. Will the kids know when to stop or will they consume more than is healthy just because it's in front of them?

Jo focuses on a serious but hidden threat to the health of the UK's children: sleep deprivation. In many homes up and down the UK the same battle takes place every night - parents trying to get the kids to go to bed, and children trying to persuade their parents to let them stay up later. But how many parents actually know the number of hours sleep their kids really need? Jo wants to find out what effect having less sleep has on children. Working with the UK's leading expert in child sleep issues, Dr Cathy Hill, Jo monitors the sleep habits of a group of 10-year-olds to find out exactly what impact insufficient sleep has on their behaviour at school and at home. Jo also meets four year old Michael who rules the family roost. He has learnt to play his parents against each other and scream until he gets whatever he wants - but as he prepares to start school is it too late to instil discipline? Jo doesn't think so.