Secretary of State for Health, Andrew Lansley, sets out plans to cut Britain’s obesity by 2012.

A recent report published by the European Commission found that British women are the most obese in Western Europe, with 23.9% classed as obese, whilst 22.1% of their male counterparts are obese, placing them second out of 19 countries.

Overall Britain needs to cut out 5 billion calories a day from its diet! Obesity is a lifestyle related health issue – explore with your students some of these reasons behind the figures and how the government could, if at all they should, intervene to encourage healthier eating.