Fast food outlets will get tax cuts for putting salads on their menu, under Government plans to combat obesity.

Ministers on Tuesday backed measures which will see restaurants and cafes receive discounts on their business rates, if they offer healthy options.

The plans will also see councils banning planning permission for new outlets which only serve junk food, and prioritising applications by those which offer meals low in fat and sugar.

The schemes will also see cut-price advertising for retailers offering healthy fare, improvements in nursery school foods and mosques asked to introduce lessons for children in exercise and nutrition.

One in five children are obese or overweight by the time they start primary school, rising to one in three by the time they leave.

Public health minister Seema Kennedy backed five council-led programmes to tackle childhood obesity, which will be rolled out nationally, if they succeed.

Among the five are Blackburn with Darwen council, which will offer cafes and restaurants a discount on their business rates if their menus include healthy options. The council will also offer free waste removal and subsidised advertising to companies which meet their criteria.

In Lewisham, in London, unsold advertising space will be used for health promotion advertisments.