In its report, Healthy Weight, Healthy Lives: One Year On, the DoH said it would: "Improve the health and wellbeing of employees in the public sector starting with the NHS through programmes to support frontline staff to achieve and maintain a healthy weight."
The report shows 300,000 of the NHS's 1.2 million employees are obese and another 400,000 are overweight.
The department will focus on staff such as midwives, maternity staff, health visitors and school nurses so their health levels support the message the NHS is sending out to the public about wellbeing. Young doctors are also to be encouraged to give up smoking.
The report states: "The public sector should lead both as an example of Government action and because of the large numbers it employs. The NHS, schools and local authorities all have an important role to play, not only in the services they provide for the public but also in looking after their employees' health and wellbeing."
Department of Health calls on NHS to improve the health of its workforce and set an example
The Department of Health has called for employers in the public sector to encourage their staff to lose weight - starting with the NHS.
