George Osborne has announced he is to levy a sugar tax on soft drinks which will raise £520m for primary school sports.
He also said fuel duty would be frozen for the sixth year running along with the levy on beer, cider and Scottish whisky.
On the sugar levy, Mr Osborne told MPs: "Doing the right thing for the next generation is what this government and this Budget is about.
"No matter how difficult and how controversial it is.
"You cannot have a long-term plan for the country unless you have a long-term plan for our children's health care."
He added: "I am not prepared to look back at my time here in this Parliament, doing this job and say to my children's generation, I'm sorry.
"We knew there was a problem with sugary drinks and we knew it caused disease but we dumped the difficult decisions and did nothing.
"Today, I can announce we will introduce a new sugar levy on the soft drinks industry."
On education, Mr Osborne also announced Maths would be made a compulsory subject for students until the age of 18.
Mr Osborne also used his Budget speech to argue the UK will be "stronger, safer and better off" inside a reformed EU.
The Chancellor warned against putting at risk the hard work taken to make the economy strong again by quitting the bloc.
In help for the oil and gas industry, which has been hit by falling global prices, Mr Osborne said he was "effectively abolishing Petroleum Revenue Tax".
In a sideswipe at the Scottish nationalists, he said: "We are only able to provide this kind of support to our oil and gas industry because of the broad shoulders of the United Kingdom."
As a result of the worsening economic forecast, he has to find further "austerity" savings if he is to meet his own target of clearing the deficit and balancing the nation's books by the next General Election in 2020.
He told MPs: "Britain will be stronger, safer and better of inside a reformed European Union and I believe we should not put at risk all the hard work the British people have done to make our economy stronger again."
His comments sparked interruptions leading the deputy speaker to intervene.
Lindsay Hoyle said: "Let's be honest, we all want to hear what the Chancellor has got to say.
"Some people may agree, some people may disagree but I want to hear him, the electorate want to hear, this country wants to hear him Chancellor."
In making his argument, Mr Osborne pointed to the remarks of the independent Office for Budget Responsibility, which downgraded its forecasts for UK economic growth in successive years.
In 2015 it has been reduced from 2.4% to 2.2%, from 2.4% to 2% in 2016, from 2.5% to 2.2% in 2017, from 2.4% to 2.1% in 2018 and from 2.3% to 2.1% in both 2019 and 2020.
The independent financial watchdog warned "a vote to leave in the forthcoming referendum could usher in an extended period of uncertainty regarding the precise terms of the UK's future relationship with the EU.
"This could have negative implications for activity via business and consumer confidence and might result in greater volatility in financial and other asset markets."
Mr Osborne said he would introduce additional spending cuts totalling £3.5bn by 2020 - lower than the £4bn expected.
Meanwhile, forecasts for national debt as a proportion of GDP have been revised upwards in each of the coming years - from 81.7% to 82.6% in 2016/17, then from 79.9% to 81.3% in 2017/18, from 77.3% to 79.9% in 2018/19, from 74.3% to 77.2% in 2019/20 and from 71.3% to 74.7% in 2020/21.
The deficit - the amount the Government spends above what it brings in - is forecast to fall next year to 2.9%. In 2017/18, it falls to 1.9%, then it falls again to 1.0% in 2018/19.
This compares with forecasts for public sector net borrowing in the November 2015 Autumn Statement of 2.5% in 2016/17, 1.2% in 2017/18 and 0.2% in 2018/19.
Conservative MPs cheered Mr Osborne's announcement that the richest 1% now contributed 28% of all income tax revenue - a higher proportion than at any point under Labour.
Unveiling changes to business taxes to make it "fit for the future" he announced that corporation tax would fall to 17% by April 2020.
In a move that will be welcomed in Wales, the Chancellor announced the Severn crossing tolls would halved.
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