Liverpool City Council (LCC) has launched new proposals to provide children under five years old with free gym memberships in a bid to combat rising obesity levels and reduce the strain on the National Health Service (NHS).

The new Futures initiative will offer youngsters the chance to take part in a range of activities at 13 of the city's 15 lifestyle centres after recent research claimed that the age group is the most critical in the fight against obesity. LCC already provides free gym memberships to children aged between five and 16 years old, as well as those over 60 years old, but is now looking to extend the scheme. Parents will also be entitled to join the scheme as part of plans to offer free memberships to 1,600 families.

A range of institutions and organisations are supporting the scheme, including Liverpool Active City, Extended Schools, Children Centres, Youth Service, Liverpool John Moores University and the Liverpool PCT (Primary Care Trust). Around 65,000 children under the age of 16 years old will receive a letter and temporary pass by the end of the month offering the chance to activate their free membership, which will include swimming pools, astro-turf pitches and tennis courts.

Warren Bradley, LCC leader, said: "As a nation I believe it is our primary duty to do all we can to give our children the healthiest possible start in life and in Liverpool we are exploring every possible avenue. "Nowhere else in the UK is delivering a health and fitness programme on this scale and, in the build up to us hosting the next Olympics, it would be a triumph if we could provide every child in the country free access to their local leisure centre. If Liverpool can do it so can other towns and cities."