NHS to reward people who walk 30 minutes a day

The aim is to sign up more than 100,000 people, with daily stats recorded digitally. If the target is hit, Sir Brendan says it would count as the biggest marathon in history. He hopes streak culture, the habit forming behaviour as seen on Snapchat and Duolingo, will help people stick with the challenge. The health benefits, and potential NHS savings, will also be significant. "If someone walks 30 minutes five times a week, they could gain up to four extra years of healthy life," he says. Full details of the scheme will be released in the coming months, along with information on how to sign up. The organising team have not yet given any details of what the rewards and incentives might be for doing the half an hour walk every day for a month. One option is providing vouchers. One of the team is Sir Keith Mills, founder of the original Air Miles and Nectar customer loyalty schemes with their own incentive offers. Health officials say the NHS will not be paying for the rewards. They say the NHS in England will be in partnership with other organisations from public and private sector who will run the scheme. GPs and other health staff will be encouraged to promote the initiative among their patients. Sonia Pombo, head of research and impact at Action on Salt & Sugar, says: "Encouraging people to build regular movement into their daily lives can support better health, and making it simple, achievable and rewarding may help more people get started. "But we cannot rely on individual behaviour change alone. If the government is serious about improving the nation's health, particularly for children, it must pair initiatives like this with stronger prevention measures."