Is this the right way to win the war on Britain’s obesity problem?

HOW can Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt appear on TV talking about dealing with obesity when hospitals have chocolate, crisps and fizzy drinks on sale in vending machines? My local hospital has at least two in the reception areas alone.

Gill lawrence,

Bletchley, Bucks. Your article about plus-size clothing resonated with me, particularly concerning women. If clothing for the overweight and obese wasn’t available, it would be a huge incentive to lose weight. Born during the war, I grew up knowing there was only one shop that catered for large women, and that was Evans outsize. But during those years you would see only the occasional ‘fatty’. These days, many larger women are young, and they flaunt their fat by wearing trendy unsuitable clothing because it is available. We should stop the manufacturing of sizes above 18 being the norm, forcing the overweight to take charge of what they put in their mouths.

I can remember my husband and I laughing at an enormous pair of jeans we saw for sale in the U.S. back in the early Seventies, thinking there couldn’t possibly be anyone that huge back home. Now we have them here in the UK. JOSEPHENE CRISP, Leatherhead, Surrey.

AS THE Government is in the process of banning two-forone deals on junk food, taxpayers should stop subsidising Parliament’s bars and restaurants. I would hate my taxes to help pay for MPs and their minions to stuff their faces with Spotted Richard and plum duff while quaffing sugar-laden beers and wines.

JUDY GOODWIN, Altofts, West Yorkshire. THIS so-called decline in High Street shops seems not to affect the food industry. Uxbridge High Street, once the home of a petrol garage, model shop, ironmongers and cinema, now consists of a nightclub and fast food shops for as far as the eye can see. Surely the local council’s planning office should have more control — in the name of obesity! PETE WILLIAMS, Hayes, West London.

WHEN is Parliament going to practise what they preach? They keep going on about obesity in children and adults, yet whenever I watch Prime Minister’s Questions on television I see so many fat and obese MPs on all sides of the floor. The House of Lords is no better. Perhaps there should be a new rule in Parliament that anyone with a body mass index of over 25 should not be allowed into the building. Either that or stop going on about public obesity.

DAVID STEVENS, Leeds. WHY are bottles of sugar-free fizzy drinks often the same price as the regular varieties? Surely there should be some sort of price difference in order to encourage the sale of sugar-free alternatives. MICHAEL LYNCHEHAUN,

Wirral, Merseyside.