Fifty-thousand British Columbians will be eligible for a $50 subsidy for a gym membership, recreation or nutrition program under what's being hailed as the most comprehensive health-promotion program in Canada.

Premier Christy Clark said participants in the $68.7-million Healthy Families BC strategy who have identified a particular health goal will be referred to various health programs by their family doctor.

Those goals include things like quitting smoking, eating healthier or dealing with medical obesity or physical inactivity.

Health Minister Mike de Jong says the strategy will give people a variety of supports and help them to set and achieve a realistic long-term health plan.

De Jong says that today's children may be the first to have a shorter lifespan than their parents.

"This is a disturbing trend that is beginning to reveal itself demographically and attributable to the types of chronic disease that has beset us as a society: obesity and other problems that are preventable and curable if we set our minds to it," he said at the program launch in Vancouver on Tuesday.

Clark said the program's hefty price tag will be mitigated in the long-term because healthier people need less long-term medical treatment when they're older.

"Chronic disease is the single biggest burden on our health care system and we need to take decisive efforts to address this or we'll see a huge increase in heart disease, stroke, adult onset diabetes, cancer, arthritis and chronic respiratory disease," she said.

Clark's own father died of heart disease at 67 years old. She believes his condition could have been prevented if he wasn't sedentary and didn't smoke.

"As a result my child was robbed of a grandfather before he even met him. This is the story for too many British Columbians," she said.

The first program launched in the strategy, the $24-million Prescription for Health program, will give doctors tools to work with patients to make a long-term goal plan based on their personal needs.

The program was developed in partnership with the Ministry of Health and BC Medical Association.

The program may refer patients to a free telephone support service, stop smoking sessions or peer coaching.

It will also include a public awareness campaign about sodium and sweetened beverages.