- LONDON: British health officials say the country needs to slash 5 billion calories from its collective daily diet to slow the obesity epidemic.
In a report issued Thursday, the department of health said most adults in the nation of about 60 million people are already eating far more than they need. The average Briton eats about 10 percent more calories than necessary, the report said.
The UK has one of Europe’s fattest populations: more than 60 percent of adults are overweight or obese. The new report aims to change diet and exercise habits enough so that the number of heavy Britons begins to fall by 2020.
Britain’s chief medical officer, Sally Davies, said people need to be more honest with themselves about just how much food they’re eating every day.