The cross-department strategy aims to promote children's health andnutrition, boost exercise levels and build towns that encourage physicalactivity.
It follows the Foresight report (News, 25 October 2007), which foundthat if current trends continue, nearly 60 per cent of adults and 25 percent of children would be obese by 2050.
The strategy includes a campaign to raise breastfeeding rates, invest inhealthy schools, increase participation in sports and exercise and makecooking a compulsory part of the national curriculum.
A 75m marketing programme will urge parents to improve theirchildren's diet and activity levels. Local authorities may be givenpower to refuse planning permission to fast food outlets in locationsnear parks and schools.
But there are no plans to extend junk food advertising restrictions. TamFry of the National Obesity Forum said, 'There must be a commitment tobanning junk food advertising on TV before the watershed. There alsoneeds to be a commitment to the reformulation of food, and increasedmeasuring and monitoring of children's growth.'
The Government also said it was finalising a Healthy Food Code of GoodPractice in partnership with the food and drink industry to bring downlevels of saturated fat, sugar and salt in food.
Further information:
'Healthy Weight, Healthy Lives: a cross-government strategy for England'can be downloaded at www.dh.gov.uk.