Jamie Oliver takes his crusade to US

Jamie Oliver is to take his healthy eating campaign to America.

He plans to target the fast food and fizzy drink culture in the US in an effort to coax people to eat home-cooked food.

The show, part of a deal with the ABC network, will see Oliver, star of TV shows Jamie's School Dinners and Jamie's Ministry of Food, work in the schools, businesses and homes of people living in an unnamed town.

He said: "This is without question the most important and challenging thing I'll ever do in my life.

"But I truly believe I can at least plant the seeds of change in America in terms of helping a community to cook better, feed their kids better and save money."

ABC expects to broadcast the as-yet-untitled show next year. The US is the fattest nation on earth with 119 million people overweight. A third of American adults are obese compared with 24 per cent of Britons.

Neville Rigby, a consultant with the International Association for the Study of Obesity said: "Fast food, junk food and fizzy drinks are seen as normal in America but if he can teach them how to tell the difference, good luck to him."