An east London estate has been named as one of Britain’s first “fat-fighting” towns under radical plans to tackle the country’s obesity crisis.
Barking Riverside, a 443-acre development close to Barking town centre, has been picked by NHS England to be one of 10 “Healthy New Towns”, set up to encourage more active lifestyles.
Plans for the areas include banning fast-food outlets near schools and building theme-park style adventure areas to encourage walking.
Children will be encouraged to cycle to school while safer parks and green spaces could be introduced to allow families to exercise without forking out for gym fees.
In a speech to The King’s Fund today, NHS England chief executive Simon Stevens will say: "The much-needed push to kick-start affordable housing across England creates a golden opportunity for the NHS to help promote health and keep people independent.
“As these new neighbourhoods and towns are built, we'll kick ourselves if in ten years time we look back having missed the opportunity to 'design out' the obesogenic environment, and 'design in' health and wellbeing.
"We want children to have places where they want to play with friends and can safely walk or cycle to school - rather than just exercising their fingers on video games.
“We want to see neighbourhoods and adaptable home designs that make it easier for older people to continue to live independently wherever possible.”
The NHS, backed by Public Health England (PHE), has pledged to support planning for the new towns, which will provide more than 76,000 homes across England.
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Professor Kevin Fenton, from PHE, said: "Some of the UK's most pressing health challenges - such as obesity, mental health issues, physical inactivity and the needs of an ageing population - can all be influenced by the quality of our built and natural environment.
"The considerate design of spaces and places is critical to promote good health.
“This innovative programme will inform our thinking and planning of everyday environments to improve health for generations to come."
Outline planning permission was granted in 2007 to build 10,800 homes at Barking Riverside, on land previously owned by Barking Power Station.