Trinidad Jiménez, the Health Minister, revealed today that 19.8% of boys and 15% of girls in Spain are now considered to be clinically obese and that this obesity is mainly due to bad eating habits.

Speaking in A Coruña about a pilot scheme on health and exercise that has been operating in 67 schools in Andalucía, the Canary Islands, Castille and León, Extremadura, Galicia, Murcia, Ceuta and Melilla, Jiménez told the press that results had shown that children are getting far too many calories from fatty foods than they should be, and are not eating anywhere near enough fish, fruit or vegetables.

The scheme, in which nearly 14,000 school children have taken part, aims to improve children's health by improving their eating habits and reducing sedentary behaviour.

The Health Minister stressed the importance of parents in the success of the scheme 'without whom it would be impossible' and outlined their role in reinforcing good eating and exercise habits in the home.

One of the main problems highlighted by the scheme's results so far is that only 12% of children eat a proper breakfast, i.e. receive 25% of their daily intake of calories first thing in the morning, so on the whole they are in no condition to cope with the mental and physical exertions of a day at school.

Football and swimming are still the most popular sports, but only 13% of the children studied under the scheme did any sport at all, preferring in general to spend on average between two and three hours watching TV.

Jiménez urged schools to offer more fruit, vegetables, pulses, fish and yoghurt to children, and parents to ensure that their children have proper breakfasts before leaving the house in the morning and to encourage them to do more physical activity, by being more active themselves so that their offspring have a healthy example to follow.