Can Britain's Olympic success inspire "fat youth"?

By Frank Prenesti

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain may be basking in the success of Beijing -- standing an impressive third in the medal table -- but whether the Olympic gold rush inspires overweight young Britons to get up and get sporty remains to be seen.

While Britain's Olympians dominated the cycling, grabbed a raft of sailing and rowing medals and won on the track and in the pool, victory abroad won't necessarily equal sportiness at home. But experts believe there is a chance it will.

"There is anecdotal evidence that kids get inspired when they see their Olympic heroes do well," said Rick Muir, a senior researcher at the Institute for Public Policy Research.

"Often many gold medalists will say they were inspired by seeing former sporting heroes do well. I guess that is the impact the government would hope to get out of this."

Britain's cyclists won seven out of 10 track titles in Beijing, dominating the event to such an extent that some rivals said it almost wasn't worth competing.

It all has the government hoping the most successful Olympics in a century will get kids up and exercising, helping address Britain's problem with childhood obesity and produce new heroes for 2012 when the event will be held in London.

Paul Smith, a councilor in the inner-city London borough of Islington, said it was a nice idea, but added that heroics alone did not mean success. Children needed somewhere to perform too.

"All the inspiration doesn't make up for a lack of facilities," he said, highlighting the lack of space in London's inner suburbs and competition for council cash from other demands such as public housing.

"There is a complete dearth of facilities here compared with somewhere like Australia," he said.

"I think the lack of facilities here just leads to kids hanging about on the streets with nowhere to go."

Much of Britain's success in Beijing has been put down to a huge increase in government funding for athletics via lottery receipts. The amount, at around 250 million pounds ($500 million) almost matches what has been spent on fighting childhood obesity ($740 million).

In the run-up to the London Games funding is expected to go on rising, but it will mainly target athletes who are already motivated towards success and Olympic glory, not towards teenagers sitting on the sofa contemplating a cycle ride.

Muir said the government now faced a "tricky balance" on whether to spend cash exclusively "on a small group of elite athletes" or spend it on encouraging the population, and especially children, to keep fit.

"In terms of Olympic medals, the thing that probably gets you furthest is spending and focusing resources on athletes who have come forward who are doing well," he said.

"But there are very good reasons for spending public money on primary health care and getting people fit. The more you prevent ill health, the less you have to spend on hospital care."

(Editing by Mike Collett-White)