Well, I'm still overweight. I know why I am too heavy, I used to eat too much junk food, and I didn't get enough exercise...
Of course now I get more exercise, eat healthy food, and am losing wieght and dating a great guy on "pluscupid.com". He loves my curves and thinks I am more down to earth than thin girls...

Anne, Hartford, USA/CT

Im not sure paying people to lose weight is the best way. But obesity rates have risen steadily in recent times. Strong links to sedentary lifestyles we now live, the car is king and modern technology provides all our leisure needs.

We cant change our genes but they play a part.

The 3 main activities we in Britain do is, Sleep, work and watch TV. (time use survey 2005) Where in these 3 things is physical activity?

but In some ways it could be economically viable to pay people to lose weight. Money is one of the best incentives for anyone, hopefully not spent in mcdonalds afterwards. The projected cost of people overweight and obese in 2050 is said to be £49.9 billion, and by then only 10% of men and 15% of women are said to be there recommended weight (foresight report)

Who pays to treat the symptoms and causes of obesity?? WE DO

Obesity wont go away, getting annoyed of them climate change adverts? well soon there will be "WAR on OBESITY" adverts too.

dave, notts,

I would love to get paid money to lose weight. I'm 25 stone!

Just think what I could do with all that money...

cream cakes...curry...mmmmm

Sandra Gates, Chestire,

As a large girl, this makes my blood boil !! why should I be paid to loose weight ? if I am to do this then I will do it myself as I have done a few times before, I am not a silly person, I have issues like anyone else its just food seems to be my crutch, I do not take drugs, hardly ever drink alcohol, but I am as a tax payer expected to pay for other folks addiction problems, this country is well and truly messed up, with its rules and regulations, as far as I can see all this is going to do is make our lives even more unbearable, as Joe public will now judge us and feel they can pass judgement more easily, as "they" are paying for us to have a more healthy life style, I for one would not accept any of the money, but I will still be looked and frowned apon as a cash grabber !!!

Oh to be perfect, hold on what is perfect, if any person could show or prove to me that they are then I would be truly amazed.

Sarah Brown, Dumbarton, Scotland

Certainly, overeating can be an addiction that like smoking and drinking is treatable. And people should be aided in seeking treatment. That being said, there should be more incentives/rewards for people who do eat and live healthfully and well. Tax junk food; subsidise healthy food and gym memberships.

Ana , St Louis, MO, USA

This government seems determined to find ways to interfere in every waking moment of our lives. When will it learn that taking away peoples' self-reliance makes them less likely to do the right things, rather than more likely to do them?

Oliver Chettle, Bedford,

I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels that the Government's plans are ludicrous. Why should I, a healthy full employed male, pay for the obese to lose weight? I do not get any incentive for being healthy nor as a non-smoker, just a big fat chunk taken out of my salary for 'taxes'. I say, give me money! I need it to maintain a healthy lifestyle rather than frittering it.

If not, then I'm going to 'Supersize'!

ps - stopping spending money on the think tanks that 'think' of these stupid ideas

Andy, London, UK

I fear for labour in the next election. For it appears it is impossible for them to improve anything without it costing us more money. Reducing congestion = congestion tax, going green = higher energy prices, improving health = more tax to give to the fatties.

In a time when we have a public enquiry for everything, no matter how small a matter when are we going to demand an enquiry as to why this government is not trying to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of how it spends our money.

Grant, london,

— A code of practice to be agreed with the food and drink industry

This is all that needs to be done, proper labelling is still not available on all products, the stores do not have a nationally recognised standard label.
It's not a matter of eating less - it's a case of knowing what we are eating - as the labels do not accuratly show us this information. this can be fixed for FREE - just get the major stores to adhere to government standards - cut this guideline rubbish and make it LAW. Sounds like spin to me - unless this area is resolved - the consumer will still be buying a percieved healthy product that is killing them !

Phil Mason, Ash Vale, Surrey

Oh yes, let's reward people for being greedy fat slobs. Why not throw in a holiday as well!

I agree with Steve from Manchester....Stick loads of tax onto junk food and subsidise healthy food with the profit.

Heavily tax or ban any more junk food stops - McDonalds etc.

Only a hair-brained slob politician would come up with that idea because he/she is thinking of going on a diet!

Andy Montgomery, Tore, Sweden

Some of us have already been lardies, chunkies, fatsos but we have moved on. Today we are FIT. Why? Self realisation, exercise and the ugly stretch marks! We were not paid a penny.

There is nothing wrong with public shaming of obese people in society, especially when this government comes up with ridiculous schemes to pay Adults who have no self-control.

sally, cambridge,

This proposal by the government is outrageous!! I do plenty of excercise and eat healthy so as not to be obese/overweight to avoid the adverse health issues. I don't see the government offering subsidies for my gym membership or money towards my bike.

If the government want to give incentives to greedy lazy oafs, then why not something practical like a food parcel of fruit and veg and a rowing machine. Not give them more money to line the pockets of McDonalds and Cadburys.

Jen, Manchester, england

I'm just going to have to statr eating choolate bars & crisps all day so I can get fat - & rich.

Colin Buchanan, Woking, England

Governement has sold off scholl playing fields, closed small village schools and cottage hospitals and now is currently closing dozens of village post offices. Where once people called walk to use local amenities, they now have no choice but to use the car. They then berate us for being fat due to lack of exercise and tax us for using the cars they have given us little choice to use. Now they solve the problem by throwing money at it. This is also in the week where we cant, apparaently, afford to pay the police the pay deal they were promised. As a person who could do with losing a bit of weight myself, it is up to me to decide on the basis that its better for my health rather than to expect other taxpayers to foor the bill.

carol, Leicester, UK

We are missing the point............obesity effects life insurances. Controlling what the individual consumes is not a problem for society.
The government should control what our food is treated with.

PAY ATTENTION TO THINGS THAT MATTER MORE

They really ought to keep a close eye on the young children who are continue to kill one another. Children are the future, they need better guidelines and role models etc.................. What will that cost?
It will be money well invested.

pam, london, england

I presume that this is aimed at the unemployed and the feckelss because the people in employment don't have the time to be going to see their doctor about obesity.

The more intelligent amongst us (and i'd like to include myself here) take it upon themselves to get themselves fit and eat less if they have a problem.

Furthermore, I would suggest that the taxpayers money that the government are paying out for these people, who will put nothing back, should be spent on getting the police back on the beat to clear the streets of undesirables for those of us lawabiding folk who are taking the governments advise and walking more in order to lose our obesity.

I am a lifelong labour voter but even I am starting to balk at some of their stupid and worthless ideas!

Kim, London,

What are these people going to do with the money once they get it?

If they are overweight they will be worse with the money. With the cheap 'healthy ready meals' on the market what other health issues are they going to have? Diabetes.

I lost 4 stone in the past few years and find it hard to eat healthily at my ideal BMI.

Gemma, Barnsley, England

'Mr Johnson said: “The core of the problem is simple — we eat too much and we do too little exercise. The solution is more complex.”'

No Mr. Johnson. The solution is simple:

Eat less, exercise more.

The trouble is we don't need politicians when we make that decision for ourselves. So they have to come up with a stupid scheme that involves them as they try to justify their unneccessary existance by sticking their noses into everybodies business.

Tony, Stockport, UK

Tony, uk …What?? Weight watchers is not a yo yo diet club it may be a business but it offers support and advice and helps develop healthy eating and healthy attitudes to food. Sounds like your making excuses to me. You also say “no one gave a damn about your weight” … well do we really want a ‘nanny’ state? Look after yourself man!

jules, dorset,

This is absolutely ridiculous. The Government would be better off giving this money for food to pensioners who are on the borderline of starvation, given the inflationary climate that Labour has created. I will not be a lone voice who wants his taxation used to fund this stupid and insulting idea. If the Government wants to save cash in the NHS through the treatment of obesity related disease then charge these people, don't pay them!

Stuart Kelly, Sutton Coldfield, UK

What a judgemental bunch you are!! Smokers get help, drinkers get help, drug addicts get help.....overeating is an addiction too. Shame on you all!

Denise Karan, Accrington, England

I think this Govt. is going about things in the wrong ways, hardworking, law abiding and self-motivated people should be rewarded, not the lay-about, scroungers and self-inflicted people who make themselves out of work, fat, drugs & alcohol addicts of society. These people should not be given more hand-outs to encourage them to be more dependent on the state.

They should be educated, more advertisement campaign needed to be targeted at these people. Maybe more brain washing rather than filling their pockets with more financial incentives.

hardworking people, medway, kent

What's going to stop me getting seriously fat and cashing in on purpose?
I understand the initiative by giving money, but shouldn't the government tackle deeper core problems?

Instead of/ as well as dealing with the obese, the gvt should force the major food multinationals to stop feeding us rubbish.

Transfatty acids? Fastfood advertising? Sodium content?

How about making an incentive for food multinationals to cut on fatty foods?
The healthier the food sold, the higher tax reduction, for example.
If Mcdonalds were told that if they were to get a serious tax cut, if they sold veg over hamburgers and fries, they wouldn't hesitate a second. Money and profit are at the heart of all of this...
The same goes for the rubbish we throw away (the government was planning to charge for too much waste), encourage multinationals to reduce their packaging or make it biodegradable...

But is it the government that controls the multinationals or the other way round?

Damian Hazlewood, Amiens, France

Whilst I agree that cash incentives are a really bad idea, I have to say that I'm quite shocked at the comments aimed at overweight people.

I do believe everyone must take responsibility for their actions, but can we please stop calling overweight people "lazy" and get rid of the stereotype of "cake", "junkfood" and "daytime television". I've found, for instance, that expensive artisan cheese, lots of good wine and reading War and Peace had much the same effect on my waistline.

Moreover, weightgain and -loss really are complex, not in a physical way, but in a psychological way. Being overweight can involve a complex web of bad habits, self esteem issues, bad information, negative peer pressure or even, yes, choice. People who have never had an issue with their weight really shouldn't be so quick to pass judgement on those who have, as you really wouldn't have much of an understanding of what it is like. It's your thinking that is lazy.

Sophie, Ireland, Ireland

These people need REAL carrots, that's all.

James Kingdom, West Morland, uk

Brain dead Government.

doris, South East, of what was once England

Comment from the USA - It is remarkable how many people with permits for "handicapped parking" are obese. Has the handicap caused the obesity; or is the obesity the handicap? In many cases, I suspect a little walk would be beneficial to these folks. Rewarding people for laziness makes very little sense.

Jeff, Rochester, NY

Shouldn't I then be getting paid for not being overweight, or perhaps quitting smoking?

Rain Barclift, Santa Monica, Los Angeles, CA

Why do they keep blaming the fast food industry for obesity. Its not the fast food outlets that are at fault it's lazy kids who spend to much time sat on their backsides instead of exercising. When I was growing up in the forties and fifties My staple diet consisted of chips and potato & meat pies and this applied to most of the other kid I knew. But we spent most of our leisure time playing football or cricket and were always active. When I left school I weighed six stones and I have a school photogragh taken in 1952 and there is not one person in that photo who is overweight. Cash incentives for losing weight is a waste of taxpayers money. Why don't they reward people for staying fit instead.

A.J. Cowburn, Wigan, England

Yet more potential discrimination against those of us who
take care
a) to eat sensibly both in quality and quantity and walk for exercise rather than need a second car for those non-essential journeys.
b) not to have more children than we can afford
c) adhere to the law so we do not require the substantial comforts afforded by HMP

Who will monitor whether the obesity is genetic or self-induced and if the payments are being used for the intended purpose?
Another government department/ Quango to check every supermarket bill?

John, South Yorkshire,

372 million pounds. Say that out loud several times. Even in this day and age when huge sums of money are bandied about as if they were candy floss, that is a lot. Anyone else wondering how much it costs to treat the diseases the obese might or might not suffer from?
I'm losing weight because I CHOSE to, not from government incentive or advice. It is the only possible road to success. Increasingly, it seems, my life belongs to anyone but me. Being told how I should or should not live my life makes me want to do the exact opposite of what so called experts say. Many may consider that to be a childish response but when constantly treated as a child, what other way is there to behave?

Khaz, Izmir, Turkey

The solution is simple. The Government should treat the Food Industry with the contempt it hands out to citizens by ordering sensible food labelling and, then tell the population that all NHS trteatments will be withdrawn from people who are 5% over their body weight index. End of story and a money saving tactic to boot.

Colin Macpherson, Gramat, France

Soon the richest people in this country beside the politicians will be the unemployed, who are generally overweight from sitting around watching too much Jeremy Kyle, eating nothing but takeaways, drinking cider and having children they can't financially support. Now they get money for being fat. Why can't we as individuals be responsible for our own actions. I don't see what's wrong for charging more money for larger clothe sizes, as a size 8 I take up less material but get charged the same. Amazing plans from our government as usual.

Jill, Cumbria, uk

This is an excellent idea. In the recent days of the credit crunch, and consumers finding it difficult to pay off debt. All you will need to do now is fill your face at christmas, and then binge diet after to pay off your christmas overdraft.

When we will stop telling people what to do and let the human race of Britian have some responsibility for themselves. Surely if we are paying people to lose weight then we should also be paying people to put on weight if they are below the scale of being healthy.

Furthermore, we have another problem. The majorityof doctors and nurses judge your state of health on the BMI scale. I am 6'2" and workout everyday. I way nearly 17 stone. My body fat % is under 12. However, when I went to see the doc the other day for a check up and was weighed, according to BMI, I am nearly clinically obese.

Please Gordon and chums leave us alone to be who we want to be.

Lee, London, Uk

I was under the impression that the government were whinging that they couldn't afford to treat the overweight, so the government were planning to deny them NHS healthcare.

Apparently, however, we have plenty of spare cash to pay them to lose weight (as well as squander on a host of useless things, Peter Hain's salary for example).

Slightly mixed message?

Karl Lynch, Canterbury, UK

how bloody STUPID are these people?
Give money to people to lose weight when people in the UK are not being taught what basic nutrition and a healthy lifestyle (for body and mind) is in their childhood/teens? The general population will have no idea how to go about losing weight in a healthy way to get the money! They couldn't find a better way to increase the use of uppers/amphetamines and other drugs amongst the population! Right on, UK supposed leaders-keep on ruining the lives of your folk! It just gets sadder and sadder by the month for y'all over there

Andrea, Florence, Italy

Yet more proof that the Government has lost the plot. It's about time that social policy is redirected towards those that make a positive contribution to UK society and stops trying to pander to those who are already a massive burden to the rest of us (ie clean-living, working, taxpayers). The UK appears to be fast moving towards an irreversible position where individual accountability is of no concern if someone else is there to pick up the cost of irresponsible actions and behaviour. On a more humourous note, given no penalty for weight gain, surely this policy encourages speed dieting and speed eating in fast succession to generate the most financial reward...which is far more dangerous than gradual weight change.

Rick, London, UK

This could result in the most perverse rent-seeking behaviour of any government scheme to date. I'm going to spend all of my money on food, get fat and then get paid to lose the weight. Now if I become a farmer and eat my own produce I could probably claim farming subsidies too. I'm a genius.

Lee, LA, USA, CA

Why reward fat people who are too lazy to exercise, who put a drag on the national health and whose wide posteriors take up two seats on the train? Why not reward those who have made the effort to eat properly, and taken time out of their lives to keep themselves active, healthy and fit? Lower taxes and lower train fares might be a good place to start. If obese people are to get a carrot, where is the stick? Why not penalize obesity with higher train fares for those whose bottoms don’t fit into the seat and require higher National Insurance taxes for those over the recommended BMI and start taxing high-calorie high-fat food like they do with alcohol?

Bob, South Woodham Ferrers, Essex

Oh, God, poor Brith tax payers are getting ripped off once again. Now tax payers have to pay a price for the poor choices of fat and obese people. That's another sign of a government that is totally out of control. The most disturbing thing for them is that they don't have a freedom-loving icon like the Amjerican Ron Paul to at least make them think.

Carlos A, Londrina, Brazil

How nice. The government wants to pay people for being stupid. How long will that line be?

Jack Carlson, Dayton, Ohio USA

Sounds like a wheeze - eat those Mars Bars to put weight on - go on a diet to lose the weight - get the cash for losing weight - use the cash to buy more chocolate - and so on, ad infinitum.

Ian , Bristol,

If they can afford to eat all that food, why should they get handouts for losing it?

budd, London, Uk

Surely if you are obese it is a lifestyle CHOICE that affects no one else?
So why should the government legislate against this?

If on the other hand someone has a medical problem which predisposes them to obesity then it is a simple matter of consulting a doctor for diagnosis and treatment.

In this area of Devon our GPs are able to prescribe sessions at our local leisure centre to get a fitness assessment and use of a gym. This strikes me as a far better way of making progress in the battle of the bulge!

John Howard Norfolk, Tiverton, Devon, UK

This is all rather silly, but I am on my lunch break and fancied writing in. Let's talk about schools & home for children learning how to eat & excercise that sets the tone for how they lead their life.
As a parent I can control what my children eat, also schools can impose sweet bans, soft drink bans (mine do), and other a healthy menu for the children. Also schools can focus on excersie, PE lessons and so forth. Interesting point, I beleive the same government is suggesting schools sell off their playing fields!
Parents (fat & thin) do not want unhealthly children, so they need to manage their children's diets in the evening and weekends. Once you begin a path of healthy eating as a child you are less likely to stop and reach for the nearest (and largest) cake.
All current issues stem from one place, if parents educated their children on morals, eating habits and the need of a good education most issues would simply vanish. It is not the schools that are failing it is the parent

Mark Saunders, London , England

At 45 and 25 stone no one in the govenment or the NHS gave a damn about my health or weight. The only people who cared were the mortgage company when I wanted to borrow money to move house. Only the Life insurance company gave me a medical. The NHS advice... Join weight watchers.

Why do I want to join the yo-yo diet clubs?

I with the help of my insurance company got my blood pressure down

I am down to 22 stone now... gradually

Surely the NHS needs to encorage men to "well man clinics" before this constant barage of anti-fatties news stories. The barrage of stories is just giving people a hard time without delivering any practical help.

Tony , uk,

What an absolute joke!!! Where does the government think they're going to get the £372m from...the taxpayers...again!! Haven't you punished enough those individuals who have the common sense to look after themselves? Dangling a carrot of financial reward does not solve anything, individuals will only go back to their previous habits when the government stops paying out. The way forward is to change the attitudes and mindsets of people.....and stop rewarding bad behaviour!!!!

June, London,

Where do they find these politicians? I mean come on? Why should thin people susbsidise fat people so they can eat even more?

Wasn't eating what caused the problem in the first place?

I think it should be the other way around, fat people should pay for thin people to eat, that way, thin people get food and fat people have less money to spend on cake!

Zak Larue-Buckley, Leiceister, Leicestershire

Mr Balls promised more sport and exercise in and out of school and more play and sports facilities.

Don't promise, just do it. It's been too many years without access to proper sport and exercise for children.

Tessa, Taunton,

I'm strapped for cash, I'm almost tempted to put on loasda weight to loose it all again for the money.

What a ludicrous idea. One that only a fat greedy politician could think up.

Genevieve, London,

Rather than offering financial incentives to eat healthily (which will surely be difficult to implement), why not discourage people from eating unhealthy food by taxing it heavily and subsidising the healthy alternatives. Once again our government is suggesting an over-complicated system on the recommendations of consultants that will no doubt benefit from the resulting work!

Steve, Manchester, England

I think this problem is going to right itself eventually. Being grossly overweight will no longer be acceptable at all. I'm no stick myself but am coming to realise that it's more and more important to be healthy and attractive.

So this money, this "£372 million Healthy Weight, Healthy Lives strategy" where's it all coming from?? My taxes you say? Why am I paying weekly for slimming world then?

Mooosy, Reading,

This Government seems to have one answer to all problems - whether domestic or overseas - throw British taxpayers' money at it. Whatever happened to personal responsibility? Eat less, move more - it's hardly rocket science - !

Trish Hiscock, Twyford,

GREAT!! Another New Labour proposal with a massive cost and doomed to abject failure to be paid for by the overtaxed - is the real plan to tax us so much we can't afford to eat? They are doing a pretty good job if it is their underlying plan.

Better make sure the vouchers are not redemmable in McDonald's!

Peter, London,

How many politicians are slim? Not many.

Perhaps they should stop trying to bully us into submission by poking their noses in every aspect of our lives, and actually get on with the business of proper and effectual running of the country?

Making people focus their attention on this nonsense diverts the attention of the electorate away from things that really matter, such as the state of the economy, and the fact that they all have their snouts in the trough.

No wonder they are going to pay money to fatties, they will be first in the queue.

Bev, Bucks, UK

What are the BMI's of the peole who make these decisions?

Mike, Bristol,

My son is anorexic and will get nothing! This is so unfair. It is discrminatory to pay the fat and make the thin pay! It shold be the other way round, starve the fat and fed the thin.

Sue Doughty, Reading, UK

Can we start paying people off not to Murder one another, or how about we pay Iran not to develop nuclear weapons, for gods sake where does it end ? This country feels like it is being run by the young Socialists clique from the refrectory of a sixth form college. Get thee behind me Gordon and be gone and take all of your self serving niave idiots with you to the land where money grows on trees and bees don't sting.

andrew wakeling, London, UK

Can't help thinking about all thoses people who are unable to obtain Cancer drugs because they are too expensive..I am not saying that all the proposals are a waste of money, but there are other considerations.
Did governments consider what might happen if school playing fields are sold off and competitive sports discouraged ?

anne, Leeds,

All very well - but where are the ideas to help those who over-eat for emotional reasons! With the growth of stress in our society there are many so-called "comfort" eaters who know what they should be doing but are in the grip of a terrible addiction and believe that food is their "friend"! There are some excellent groups out there which address this problem but they are expensive and not within the reach of everyone who needs access to them.

Sally Roberts, London, UK

Yippee, give my money to fat people!!!

Why not give money to people who are thin, or raise the taxes on fat people?

Dominic, Manchester, UK

What a lot of self-righteous moaners - and mainly living overseas!! I think you'll find, James, that the NHS is far from free and the working obese have paid their share of NI - or would they get a refund?

I'm not agreeing with the idea, but where do you draw the line - don't treat obese, smokers, drinkers, those with sports injuries - the list goes on.

Sue, Sidmouth, uk

What about putting more of that £372mn into making the streets safe to walk, especially instead of the £75mn advertising campaign? They tried such a campaign in Scotland to try and prevent smoking, and it didn't work at all. And what about people who eat healthily and exercise? Will we be given any money?

What a stupid, stupid policy.

LB, London,

Stark raving bonkers! This Government that has encouraged excessive debt and state handouts is now trying to reward failure. I have advised my children to take their skills abroad, as the UK is going down the pan economically, culturally and morally.
Middle Britain has taken too much of the strain and whilst I would like to think a Government of National Unity will put the UK back on course, it is going to take decades to get out of the intensive care unit.

Steve Marchant, Broadhempston, UK

I have read what a lot of people have said here and although I do not want the goverment to give my money to overwight pepole you have to be very careful about denying them health treatment because they are fat.
If that is the case then you would have to deny Smokers, People who put them selve at risk by playing sports and various other activities.
So I say to all here be careful what you wish for.

dave, London,

This government loves to waste public money on ideas that plainly will not work. They do anything to get into the headlines. Political correctness has killed any realism and "Spin" is so ingrained that they throw away cash on pathetic attempts to get headlines and approval.

Timbo, Tunbridge Wells, UK

This government is taking stupidity to new levels. This will create another group of scroungers. enough is enough. Vote out Brown now.

hamad lone, London, England

Some people are naturally slim. Regardless of how much they eat they don't put on weight. I know, I've lived with two of them for the past 40 years. Nor does it seem to matter what they eat, crisps, chocolate, biscuits, burgers and chips, it's a;; the same to them. Exercise? Walking up and down stairs to the loo is about their limit.

I only have to look at a small bar of chocolate to put on half a kilo, eat it and on goes the entire kilo. So quite clearly there is more to it than simply overeating, or eating the wrong things.

I'm not saying one shouldn't eat a healthy diet, far from it. What I am saying is that being overweight isn't black and white.

Roz , Barnsley, South Yorkshire

Fantastic news. I'm immensely fat and should be quids in.

Wilberforce , London,

What about paying healthy and slim people for not been a burden on the health system? Why should over weight people be paid for something which was totally of their own doing? if they cant control what they eat how can they control been given money which will only been spent at KFC?
What a joke england... no wonder 100 000 brits move away every year from their home land to other countries like spain and australia

luke, perth, australia

Whatever next? What an absurd idea.

It completely fails to address the problem and is some kind of pathetic band-aid.

richard, bangkok,

Would it not be possible just to withdraw free healthcare provided by the NHS for those deemed clinically obese? Whilst a little more stick than carrot, this would certainly avoid spending money on weight-loss incentives, help shore up the NHS operating deficit and provide a motivation for everyone to improve their lifestyles.

James, Shanghai,

Why not pay a premium to workers who take the time and trouble to stay fit and healthy so that the overweight and unfit have an incentive to both acheive and maintain sensible weight and fitness levels?

Colin, London, Middlesex

Please stop this happening. More tax payers money given out. Common sence has gone out the window.

Barry, Tonbridge, Kent

Why should people who already put time, effort and money into living healthily and controlling their weight have to subsidise the others? Let them become fat, deny them health care and leave it at that - they shouldn't remain a drain on the rest of us for long! If people do not want (or understand how) to be healthy, it is their choice, but they must then face the consequences. This is not a matter for government.

John Scott, London,

Surely, the government can find a better use of £372million ?

Tom, Manchester,

"England should lead the way" surely Brown will sack him for using the E word.

grumpy, Sunderland, England

Luncheon vouchers for the chubby? Whatever next?

Nick, London, UK

Instead of paying them to loose weight, fine them. As if some people will not just get fat in order to get more handouts. this is pathetic and all that needs to be done is educate people properly and insist on good school meals for children that are paid for b the state. take back the school dinners from contracters who have more interset in making money and put less emphasis on saving pennies than getting children to eat right.

Geoff, Singapore,

People should not be paid to lose weight! They should realise their unhealthy lifestyle is preventing them from enjoying life to the full - that should be motivation enough! Where will it end when we have to bribe people not to be greedy?

Nathan, London, UK

Make it economically profitable for companies to make the healthiest products.

Naz, Lewes, England