Families could be offered discounts on their food shopping, cut-price sports gear and free cinema tickets for hitting exercise targets in a drive to reduce the burden of lifestyle-related illness on the NHS. As well as downloadable apps that reward walking, plans for Halton Lea in Runcorn, Cheshire, include free bikes, an outdoor cinema, sprinting tracks on pavements and outdoor gyms. Residents could receive lessons in how to cook healthily, while a community kitchen could supply food to local schools, hospitals and meals on wheals. The initiative is a response to the burden being placed on the NHS by disease linked to sedentary lifestyles. The final plans for Halton are expected to be ready by January.

Source: The Guardian August 22, 2017 10:52 UTC