Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver set out a "manifesto" for tackling the country's obesity crisis today.

The campaigning chef is calling for more action to teach people how to cook.

And he wants Government-funded food centres to be set up in every town.

In a letter to Government ministers, Oliver says: "If nothing is done, obesity and diet-related health problems will have devastating consequences for the national health service.

"Obesity already costs the NHS more than smoking (£4.2 billion vs £2.7 billion).

"Experts now say the problem is escalating so quickly that in ten years’ time, 75% of people will be overweight or obese.

"Meanwhile, the Government is working on predictions 40 years away."

He continues: "The new obesity strategy covers both diet and exercise but it contains no plans to help people to improve food and cooking skills and stop them becoming obese.

"Babies and toddlers are especially at risk because many young mothers don't know how to cook, nor do they have any basic knowledge of nutrition."

The manifesto calls for cooking skills to be taught in primary schools as well as to adults at work and in the community.

It says food centres should be opened all over the country with trained cookery teachers offering lessons and advice.

Oliver's Channel 4 programme, Jamie's Ministry of Food, features a pilot food centre in Rotherham, set up jointly with the local council.

Oliver is calling for such centres to be set up in every town, staffed by home economics teachers.

He says the centres cost £150,000 each to set up, or £22.5 million for 150, and the money should come from local government and health budgets.

The manifesto says: "We need to get loads of professional cookery teachers trained up... to work right through the community. They need to reach the people who don't cook, don't watch cookery programmes, don't buy cook books, don't know about food.

"If they give it a try and start to feel inspired about cooking, the Government could make a massive difference, and quickly.

"All it needs is proper funding and support from central Government, specifically the departments of health, skills and education."

Other measures being called for are:

• Cooks in the community to spread their knowledge at events in universities, offices, factories and shopping centres.
• Tax incentives for businesses which promote better diets.
• Mobile food centres for deprived neighbourhoods, at a cost of GBP20 million for 10.
• The promotion of fresh, cheap food.
• Funding for adult cookery classes, especially for people on income support and those living in deprived areas.
• A Government spokeswoman said: "Jamie is doing great work to get the nation cooking - this fits in well with what the Government is already doing to cut child obesity.

"Every child must cook at primary schools and we're making it compulsory in secondaries for the first time ever, along with better teaching on nutrition, health and diet and subsidising ingredients for low-income families.

"We've turned the corner on school lunches - banning junk food; bringing in tough nutritional standards; piloting giving free school meals to all primary school pupils. And we're investing £2.4 billion over eight years in school sport and record numbers of kids are now doing school sport."

She said a new grassroots initiative, Change4Life, was due to be launched in the new year which would involve supermarkets, the media and community cookery clubs.

She continued: "Obesity is a national epidemic that needs a national solution with everyone working together.

"There are no overnight or easy solutions to obesity or lack of cooking skills but we're interested in Jamie's work in Rotherham. We will need to work further with him to see how it fits in with our own major obesity and cooking campaign."