Ed Balls' speech on physical activity

At the Healthy Kids Summit, a conference organised by the Guardian, the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, Ed Balls,  tells delegates that the government is ahead of a 2008 target to get 85 per cent of pupils doing at least two hours of sport a week. However, secondary schools are lagging behind primary schools and teenage girls are the least active pupils. Mr Balls said schools should be doing more to encourage teenage girls to take part in sporting activities, such as offering alternative activities like yoga, and getting rid of embarrassing PE kits.

He said that it was also up to parents to encourage their children to eat healthily as the government could not improve children's lives without their help.

The Foresight report to be published later this week, which was commissioned to help the government understand the extent of the obesity problem, warns that half of the population will be obese within 25 years if current trends continue.