The European Commission has told the food and drink industry that it may introduce harsh new regulations unless manufacturers take steps to tackle obesity.
Health commissioner Markos Kyprianou wants the industry to take voluntary action but has warned that he will create new laws if necessary to help reduce the "frightening" levels of obesity across the bloc.
"More than 50 per cent of the adult population is overweight or obese, and more than 21 million children are overweight or obese," the commissioner revealed.
"Even more worrying is that the rate of increase [among children] is more than 400,000 per year. Today's overweight children will be tomorrow's adults with all these chronic illnesses," he warned.
A growing number of UK patients are opting for obesity surgery in a bid to lose weight and improve their life expectancy.
Obesity surgery is normally considered for patients whose body mass index (BMI) exceeds 35, but patients in some areas cannot obtain treatment on the NHS and seek private treatment instead.
Obesity news : 01/06/2007
