Poll shows more than 50% of people are in favour of 'Cash for Exercise' scheme
Government suggests paying overweight people to exercise will help tackle the obesity crisis
Last updated 4th Mar 2021
Health officials are examining whether paying people to exercise could help drive down levels of obesity.
Sir Keith Mills , who founded the Air Miles and Nectar customer loyalty programmes, is to advise the Government on how to develop a new way to use incentives and rewards to support people to eat healthy diets and do more physical activity.
Part of his work will include looking at schemes from around the world which have been successful in getting people fit and eating better.
It comes as the Government announced a £100 million package to help drive down levels of obesity.
It comes as the UK faced criticism over its high levels of both obesity and Covid-19 deaths.
We asked people on Twitter if they think the scheme is a good idea - 55.6% agreed that it is.
Being obese increases a person's risk of dying from Covid-19 or severe disease, as well as a number of other health problems.
About 63% of adults in England are overweight or obese and one in three children starting secondary school are considered overweight.
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