The Football Association has today announced its ambition to help the government address health issues in teenage women following the release of the findings from its most extensive survey ever into the growth of football as a participation sport amongst girls.

The move is a positive step in the wake of criticism of footballers for their readiness to promote unhealthy food. The FA has been running women's football in the UK for 10 years and this is its biggest commitment yet to communicating the link between sport and health to the younger female generation.

In the biggest survey of its kind to date – Junior Football Trends 2003 – FA research has discovered that 60 per cent of the population of seven to 15 year old girls in England – nearly 1.5 million girls – have played football in the past year. Persuading this age group to remain active in sport – particularly outside of school – has been a key focus of government initiatives designed to address teenage health issues such as obesity and smoking.

With the announcement of these figures, The FA has offered to work closely with the government in future to use the growing popularity of football to ensure sport is an integral part of a teenage girl's life. The initiative will work alongside other government projects such as the 5-a-day campaign.

Tessa Jowell, secretary of state for the department for culture, media and sport said: 'So many teenage girls are obsessed with how they look and are enormously self-critical. Girls who are involved in sport tend to be far happier with themselves and also get a terrific buzz from competing in team activities like football. We are keen to work with The Football Association to ensure that the game offers every girl an opportunity to remain fit and to develop a positive attitude towards her appearance. Where Bend it Like Beckham leads, let's have loads of girls following.' 'Sport England and The Football Foundation are important partners to invest in our development programme, but we need to work with the Government and local authorities in order to meet the Government's ambitious aims for increasing physical activity among women – we see football as key to keeping a whole generation of women fit and healthy.' Roger Draper, ceo of Sport England, added: 'A key aim of Sport England is to drive up participation rates in sport, especially amongst women and girls. We recently carried out a survey, which revealed that the amount of girls playing football in school has increased from seven per cent in 1994 to 12 per cent in 2002. This is great news for women's football. We will continue to work with partners such as the Football Foundation, The FA, government and others to increase opportunities to play, as well as facilities, coaching, refereeing and administration to ensure the game supports itself and continues to attract women to the sport.'