James Smith, 14, lives in Oxford

I don't know if giving kids pedometers is going to work. To start with they will have to look seriously cool or no one is going to wear them. Some people will like the fact that you can be competitive over them and see who has walked the most in a day, but there again I think the people who don't need to do it, who are already quite sporty, will probably be the most competitive and the people who could most do with the exercise won't be that bothered.

Boys who play football or rugby are well catered for, but more needs to be done for boys who aren't into these aggressive sports. Why don't they do a survey to find out what sports kids themselves would go for? Being keen is half the battle, but I don't think young people are generally consulted about what sports they'd like to be offered.

Making food options healthier is tricky. At my school there's a huge range of sweets and chocolate available, all so tempting, and then one or two bruised apples as an alternative. If they're going to get us to choose healthier food, they've got to try a lot harder than that.

Ruth Woodhead, 18, lives in Hebden Bridge in west Yorkshire

The idea of personal health trainers for kids, as the government is suggesting, sounds a bit far-fetched. What you'd find is that people who were already interested in diet and fitness would be right there, while the people who weren't that fit wouldn't want to know. It would be an expensive thing to run, too - I'd say the money would be better spent on improving group-based activities such as sports.

I'm keen on sports but they are definitely harder to stick with it if you're a girl. There are football and rugby clubs everywhere for boys, so they don't have to travel far for games, but if you're a girl in a netball or a football team you often have to go miles for a match because the teams are so few and far between. It means you're completely reliant on your parents to give you lifts - I've done loads of sport, but only because my parents have been able to drive me miles to matches, week in and week out.

In my school they serve healthy food alongside chips and chocolate, but the problem is that the salad and fruit is more expensive. Obviously you're not going to get youngsters to change their eating habits by getting them to spend more. I'm head girl at my school and it's an issue raised by the pupils on the school council year in and year out: we know making healthy food cheaper would make a difference, but the message just isn't getting through.

Joe Walls, 14, lives in Skegness in Lincolnshire

I can see girls wearing pedometers, but I can't see boys wearing them. My impression of them is that they're something for girls who are a bit obsessed with their weight.

The main thing the government needs to do is put a lot more sport into school. It hasn't happened yet: I'm at a sports college, but even so I only do one and a half hours' sport on average now I'm in year 10. I think we should be doing five hours' sport a week, minimum: it's got to be on the curriculum so you get pupils to do it. There are lots of after-school clubs available, but the people who most need to exercise don't go to them.

Personal health trainers will be a waste of money because that's just about picking on some kids who don't seem to be getting it right. What you need to do is make sure everyone has to do sport at school so there's no escaping getting an introduction to it, which you'll hopefully carry on - and it's important to make it fun. At the moment the messages are so mixed for young people: at my school, for example, the vending machine selling sweets and fizzy drinks is right next to the sports hall. What does that say?

Safa Muhammad, 15, lives in east London

My friends and I talk a lot about weight and how we don't want to put it on, but it's mostly the boys who do sport. I don't think there's enough emphasis on sport in our school, which might be because it's single sex - there seems to be more opportunity for sport in a boys' school or a mixed school. We choose one thing each term - I'm doing aerobics this term, and next term I'll do netball. It seems a bit mad really that you just do the same thing for a block like that - why not let us do several things at the same time to make it more interesting, and us more enthusiastic?

We've got vending machines in school selling crisps, popcorn, sweets and chocolate, although they have stopped selling fizzy drinks now and you can get water. The new plans say they'll put healthy options in the vending machines, but they've tried that at my school and it's always the other stuff that runs out first, so the healthy options aren't popular.

Lindsey Frodsham, 13, lives in Warwickshire

A pedometer could be cool, but really it should just be part of life to walk around without thinking about it - I do quite a lot of walking getting to and from school. We've got vending machines at our school and they're popular - I think if anyone tried to get rid of them there would be a mass revolt. Also, people would just bring sweets in from home so you'd never get rid of them completely.

There are healthy options in the dining room, but the problem is they're expensive. You'd pay 50p for chips but 80p for pasta, so of course people have chips. I think young people definitely want better food - we had a petition at our school for a vegetarian option, which we now get.

Alexander Wright, nine, lives in south London

It's good that they're going to do more PE in schools, but they've got to keep it going. Last year at our school we walked to the common every Thursday for an afternoon of games, but it's not happening any more, which is a shame. We've also got a walking bus but not every day.

I think they need to think about which sports are popular and to give people choice - everyone likes something, but you can be put off if what you want isn't there. I think we should get more swimming. And in the playground it's mostly the boys who play games - they need to find games that the girls would join in with.

We have fruit at break time, which is healthy and most people like it, but at lunchtime the healthy food isn't always that nice. There's cucumber but it doesn't seem to taste like the cucumber at home.