RSPH has expressed serious concern at a report released by the National Obesity Forum, which has criticised official nutritional advice and made the counter-intuitive suggestion that people should be encouraged to eat more fat to combat obesity.

Responding to the report, Shirley Cramer CBE, Chief Executive of RSPH, said: “When it comes to knowing what constitutes a healthy diet, there is so much conflicting advice out there that the public no longer knows which way is up – and headline-grabbing reports such as this one will not help. If we are to have any chance of people following healthy eating advice, then the public health community needs to be speaking with one voice. The official advice, provided by Public Health England, is based on a comprehensive review of all the available evidence – we are not convinced that the same can be said of this report. It cannot be said, as this report claims, that the official advice has contributed to obesity when we have not yet been successful in getting sufficient numbers of people to follow it.

“The report does contain some sentiments we agree with, particularly about our overconsumption of sugar and the fact that many purportedly health foods do contain high levels of sugar. Overall, however, the report does appear to be a muddled manifesto of sweeping statements, generalisations and speculation, and it doesn’t add much either to evidence-based policy or supporting the public’s health.”