The Chief Medical Officer launched a campaign today to encourage the public in the UK to take more exercise.

Sir Liam Donaldson has published a report on physical activity which empahsises the benefits of simple activities such as mowing the lawn, vacuuming and gardening alongside more rigorous sporting activities.

The report sets out goals on the amount of exercise everybody should be taking and recommends that adults should aim for 30 minutes of at least moderate activity every day.

Epidemiologists have warned that, if current trends continued, at least a third of adults in Britain would be obese by 2020 - at the moment the figure stands at one in five.