Home truth: eat less

SIR – I was very pleased to see your headline, “Children obese at 11 doomed to early death” (report, January 23). For the past 15 years, I have been waging a campaign to highlight that the obesity epidemic is killing millions and costing billions, yet the cure is free: eat less.

The obesity epidemic is crippling the NHS, with two million Type 2 diabetics, to say nothing of the huge cost of joint replacements, heart attacks, strokes and many other complications.

The answer is an all-out campaign involving every man, woman and child – not to tell them what to do but to tell them the truth. The country desperately needs to consume fewer calories before it is too late. Professor Lord Mccoll of Dulwich London SW1

SIR – We grumble about having a “nanny state”, yet expect the Government to be completely responsible for our children’s health.

What happened to good parenting? Phillip Crossland

Driffield, East Yorkshire