Prevalence of obesity is low in people who do not eat meat

EDITOR,—Britain is failing to meet targets that have been set for reducing obesity.1 One of the aims of the Health of the Nation strategy is to reduce the percentages of men and women who are obese to 6% and 8%, respectively, by 2005,2 but the Health Survey for England 1994 shows that the prevalence of obesity had increased to 13.2% among men and 16.0% among women by 1994.3 This increase is probably partly due to a reduction in physical activity; the importance of the composition of the diet is not …