Britain is getting fatter, says government

The numbers of obese people and teenage smokers in Britain are rising, despite the health targets set by the government, says a report from the Department of Health. The report, the second to document the progress of the government's Health of the Nation strategy, says that the numbers of obese men and women rose from 7% and 12% respectively in 1986-7 to 13% and 16% respectively in 1994. Professor John Garrow, editor of the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, said that the number of obese people in Britain has doubled in the past 10 years.

“The government has never taken obesity seriously. The figure continues to go up because …