Olympics at centre of new anti-obesity drive

The London Olympics is to be placed at the centre of the Government's battle against obesity.

Health Secretary Alan Johnson has been told to make two million more people adopt active lifestyles by 2012.

The target - a key pledge of the Olympics bid - has shifted departments after a row over who should take responsibility. Now the Standard has learned it will form part of the Department of Health's plan to cut obesity rates.

Mr Johnson is expected to take over the quango Active England to deliver the target of convincing people to live healthily. He will use it to promote healthy lifestyles through a series of Olympic-themed roadshows and mass participation events such as city runs.

The DoH will also undertake an "Active People Survey" providing the most comprehensive picture so far into levels of sport and recreation in England. Although the department will not receive additional funding, the move is intended to help achieve its own anti-obesity targets. One in four children will be clinically obese by 2010 on current trends and more than half of all adults will be morbidly fat.

Mr Johnson will next week publish the National Obesity Strategy in a bid to bring the figures down.

As part of the obesity strategy 10 new "fit towns" will also be created, with a £30 million grant to build cycle paths, playgrounds and encourage children to cut out snacks.

Primary school children will be regularly weighed and measured and parents told to check the results using an online "fat calculator". Pregnant women could also be monitored for body mass index during their 12-week scan to identify babies at risk of obesity.

Tam Fry, of the National Obesity Forum, said: "These are desperate efforts at the 11th hour. The Government let childhood obesity get out of control and unless they can deliver on these promises hundreds of thousands of children face serious longterm health problems."

The move to give Mr Johnson responsibility for the Olympic "healthier Britain" target comes after a highlevel row over the legacy of the Games.

Ministers were accused of performing a U-turn over the pledge last month. Culture Secretary James Purnell said it should no longer be delivered by the quango Sport England, which his department funds. Chairman Derek Mapp quit in protest but the move was welcomed by opposition parties.

"Gimmicks" such as a £30,000 grant for yoga and walk-to-work programmes for staff at Manchester United had been widely scorned.

Instead Mr Purnell wants to deliver a "world class community sport" programme. He has told Sport England to concentrate on nurturing young talent in mainstream sports, funding the clubs, facilities and coaches.

Sport England will publish plans in March to detail how they propose to prevent the dropout between those first starting sport and the elite.

"Active lifestyles" will be defined by the amount of sport or recreation carried out in a typical week.