LONDON - The U.K. government is shifting the onus of educating the public about healthy eating and exercise to advertisers, Advertising Age reports. The government is discontinuing its $120 million Change4Life anti-obesity program as part of an effort to slash its marketing budget by up to 50 percent.

In return for taking over the anti-obesity marketing campaign, the government will not hand out new rules on food marketing. While advertising firms are suffering from the government cutbacks, marketers are happy to receive a larger role in the obesity debate, Andrew Lansley, Conservative Party health secretary, chucked the three-year Change4Life budget, pleading for a "new approach to public health. ?? I will now be pressing [the commercial sector] to provide actual funding behind the campaign, and they need to do more. If we are to reverse the trends in obesity, the commercial sector needs to change their business practices, including how they promote their brands and product reformulation."

Business4Life, an initiative by the Advertising Association that includes all the big names like Coca-Cola, Mars, Kraft and Cadbury, says it will give the equivalent of $300 million to promote healthy diet and exercise.

"Business is ready to play its part. We welcome being seen as part of the solution rather than being constantly castigated as being part of the problem. We are more likely to get the right results if we have a positive role than if we are constantly having mud chucked at us," said Ian Barber, who leads the group.