BBC News, West Midlands
A 10-year-old boy, whose fitness journey has attracted millions of followers on social media, says his weight loss has given him the confidence to go to high school next year.
Jacob, from Wellesbourne in Warwickshire, decided to take matters into his own hands after he was bullied by his classmates and referred to as “fat and tubby”.
“I didn’t want to go to high school overweight because in high school it’s different; you can get more hurt, and I didn’t want that to happen,” he said.
With the help of former amateur boxer brothers Harry and Joe Freeman from Boxwave Fitness in Stratford, Jacob has lost 22kg (3.5st) and says his confidence has “definitely gone up”.
‘Bullying really hurt me’
More than 50 million people have watched the trio’s training videos, and a fundraising page to buy healthy food and sports gear has raised nearly £12,000.
“Before I started Boxwave, my confidence was really bad,” Jacob said.
“They [classmates] were calling me really mean words, and it really hurt me on the inside.
“Whenever I went to the park with my grandad, there were always other kids there, but I didn’t want to ask them if I could play because I was afraid they were going to be mean to me, so my grandad had to ask for me.”
Joe Freeman said Jacob’s fitness journey meant he was now able to play football at the park with children he had just met.
“We’re very proud of him; he’s a star,” he added.
“We pushed him as far as we can, but Jacob has done amazing, and it’s such a happy story.”
The brothers added that they had been alarmed by obesity rates and hoped to encourage more young people to start exercising.
“The sad part is there are thousands of Jacobs out there, and that’s where we want to reach out to these kids and inspire them,” Harry said.
“If you can get into it at a young age, it just stays with you, and it’s so much easier,” he added.
Jacob reassured other children who may be scared to go back to school, as they had been bullied.
“I have been in their position… but my message would be try your very best to ignore them.”
The primary school pupil added that his next challenge was to train to run a 10km (6.2m) race.