Thank you. I’d like to thank Members for what I think has been a really constructive and helpful debate this afternoon. It gives me great pleasure to begin by joining Members in applauding the success of our men’s senior national football team, both in qualifying for a major tournament and in showing the world how sport can unite a nation. It’s a tremendous achievement and it shows how the whole squad has worked for each other and has been galvanised by the leadership of their manager, Chris Coleman.

The European championship is one of the world’s highest-profile sporting events, with an aggregated TV audience of 1.9 billion for 2012. That sort of global audience will help raise the profile of Wales not just as a sporting nation but also as a small country where working together to achieve common goals continues to mean that we surpass both our own and others’ expectations.

Football is immensely popular in Wales, and, recognising this, the Welsh Government provides financial support to the development of the game at grass-roots level. This work is driven forward by the Welsh Football Trust, who have made significant progress over the last few years. There are now 105,000 registered football players across Wales, including 5,000 women and 800 disabled players. The Welsh Football Trust is working to use the European championships as a catalyst to stimulate young people to take part in football. This is very much using the momentum that Joyce Watson and Angela Burns have described in their contributions.

The trust has established a first-class coaching infrastructure, attracting coaches from right across the world. They provide 4,000 training opportunities each year, and Wales is the first nation to provide coach education online. Many young players will have been inspired by the current team, and establishing this sort of infrastructure will help develop our more talented players, no matter where they are or where they live. I listened carefully to Suzy Davies’s contribution, and that of Angela Burns, because I certainly don’t want to see talent being lost or opportunities unavailable purely because the young people might live in a rural area.

Major sporting events can provide good opportunities to drive home messages about being more physically active and the benefits that this can bring. For example, mass participation events, such as the world half marathon and that long list recited to us by Russell George, provide us with high-profile platforms for promoting healthy lifestyles. We continue to work closely with Sport Wales and national governing bodies to exploit these kinds of opportunities for encouraging more people to take part in sport and physical activity more often. They also provide our talented sportsmen and women with valuable opportunities to compete against the world’s best on home soil, and opportunities to qualify for the Commonwealth, Olympic and Paralympic Games.

It’s clear that sport is a huge part of Welsh culture and certainly helps define us as a nation. However, the value of sport goes beyond personal enjoyment and fulfilment; it’s a very powerful tool that can help us achieve some ambitious goals. One area of concern that is a challenge to Governments around the world is the slow but steady increase of the levels of overweight and obesity amongst the adult population. The recent figures released for 2015 from the Welsh health survey showed that 59 per cent of adults were overweight or obese, compared to 54 per cent in 2003-04. Levels also increased with deprivation, and they ended as highest in middle age.

We know that lifestyle changes don’t happen overnight and we have to continue to support our adult population to be healthier. However, it is reassuring that the majority of children maintain a healthy weight. Recent data from the child measurement programme show that prevalence of reception-age children being overweight and obese in Wales is stable, with 72.9 per cent being of a healthy weight. This is important as we know that early-life behaviours may track into adulthood and influence weight in later life. So, this healthy majority is an encouraging sign for future generations. In the same way, adults are more likely to be physically active if it becomes part of their lives before the age of seven. The Sport Wales school sports survey shows the number of children and young people regularly taking part in sport is now at 48 per cent, up from 27 per cent in 2011. So, we are making progress, but there is more to do.

As Dr Dai Lloyd and Mohammad Asghar reminded us, the evidence is clearly there, demonstrating that addressing obesity can play a significant role in reducing the prevalence and impact of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, dementia and some forms of cancer, as well as helping with overall improvements in physical and mental health. Gareth Bennett was right to talk about the cost saving that is available to us if we address this. Our manifesto made clear our commitment to tackle this issue through increasing levels of physical activity and improving our diet. Education to inform better choices, free swimming, increased active travel, limiting the amount and availability of unhealthy food in key settings, ensuring that children and young people understand the consequences of poor lifestyle choices, and increasing rates of breast feeding are just some of the things that we are putting in place to support our population at many levels.

Other developments include Public Health Wales’s close collaborative working with health boards to develop effective early years intervention, using concepts from the ‘10 Steps to a Healthy Weight’ programme. Sport Wales, Public Health Wales and the Welsh Government will continue to jointly fund a physical activity director, who has produced a new physical activity action plan. This plan is currently being considered by all three bodies, and I look forward to seeing the final draft soon. I intend to take time over the summer to consider the document and to discuss it with our key stakeholders, with a view to launching it in September.

The background to this debate is our involvement in one of football’s biggest competitions. I’m sure that all Members will support me in wishing Chris Coleman, the players, the support staff and the FAW the very best of luck. It’s a fantastic time to be a Welsh football fan and an exciting time to be a Minister with responsibility for sport. No-one here will need reminding that Wales play England tomorrow, and it promises to be a very exciting game. I’m grateful for the First Minister’s intervention with the French authorities regarding the safety of our fans during the rest of the tournament. Keeping our people safe is our first priority, and I’m sure that the increased security being put in place will mean that our fans will continue to act as the great ambassadors for Wales that John Griffiths spoke of, and will have a safe and enjoyable experience. Diolch yn fawr.