Fat chance

Anew analysis by Cancer Research has confirmed what we all suspected: that we are becoming a nation of fatties and the consequences of obesity will be felt for decades to come. The so-called millennials who came of age around the turn of the century are set to be the most outsized generation ever. Three quarters of them will be overweight or obese by the age of 40.

While excess weight does not necessarily impair health in the young, the risks of illnesses such as cancers, heart disease and diabetes increase markedly as they get older. Combined with other illnesses of ageing, notably dementia, the ability of our health service to cope will be tested to the limit.

When the NHS was established in 1948, life expectancy for men was 66 and for women it was 71. Today it is 77 and 82. Millennials can expect to live into their eighties, paradoxically unfit and unhealthy yet kept alive by advances in medical science.

Health experts call the figures “horrifying” and have urged the Government to act. But it is not as though the link between eating too much and exercising too little is unknown. Indeed, the millennials have probably had more healthy living and dietary advice than any previous generation – yet it has fallen largely on deaf ears.

Will banning adverts for junk food really stop young people eating it, or a sugar tax make them give up fizzy drinks? The approach to the dangers posed by tobacco has certainly led to a substantial fall in the number of smokers. Driving home to younger people the fact that unhealthy eating does not just make you fat but potentially seriously ill, too, must be the way forward.