A cradle-to-grave action plan to target obesity, poor diet and lack of exercise is to be launched today to reverse Scotland's reputation as one of the fattest nations in the world. A quarter of men and a fifth of women are obese, while the figures for children are one boy in six and one girl in seven.

Over the next three years the Scottish government aims to plough £40m more into improving healthy eating and physical activity, with £19m to be spent on improving the nutrition of young women and children under five in poor areas and £12m on getting people to exercise.

'Obesity is one of the problems that, like climate change, does not have a simple solution and requires a new way of thinking,' said Shona Robison, Minister for Public Health. 'This is about providing people with more opportunity to take control of their own health.'