Obesity is the No1 health crisis

OBESITY is overtaking hunger as the world's biggest health problem, say experts.

UN figures show there are more than a billion overweight people - including three million obese - and one billion malnourished.

A British conference on food production heard that Third World diets once full of fruit and veg are now packed with fat and carbohydrates.

Scientist Richard Ellis told the Reading University seminar: "Governments have concentrated on staples like rice and wheat. Many have ignored vegetables and fruit. Man cannot live by bread alone and everyone needs a balanced diet. These figures prove that billions aren't getting it."

He added: "Obesity is now truly a world problem. There are more overweight people than hungry ones."

Professor Dyno Keatinge, of Taiwan, said: "The key need is for balanced diets, and that applies to all of us."

More than half of British adults are classed as obese or overweight.

e.morton@the-sun.co.uk