COUNTY Hall has hailed schools in Worcestershire for a "tremendous effort" in ensuring half of them have healthy school status.

The Government required Worcestershire to have at least 50 per cent of schools accredited by the end of last year, a target that was reached just before Christmas.

The authority has pledged to get more do all it can to ensure more schools reach that status in 2007 to help combat obesity.

For schools to reach healthy schools status it has to offer a high quality menu and ensure adequate provision for exercise.

Healthy lifestyles manager Angela Kirton said: "Reaching our target early was a great achievement and it's all down to a tremendous effort on the part of our schools, together with excellent support from their school nurses and our healthy schools team.

"At a time when the worrying trends in children's and young people's health are rarely out of the headlines, it's reassuring to know that our county schools are working hard to find answers to problems such as childhood obesity, bullying and alcohol and drug use."