CALLS for people in Britain to ‘go on a diet’ to combat obesity have been backed by campaigners in East Lancashire.

Duncan Selbie, chief executive at Public Health England (PHE), made the calls after the launch of a campaign by Public Health England to cut calories.

The ‘One You’ campaign encourages people to only have 400 calories for breakfast, 600 for lunch and 600 for dinner, plus a couple of healthier snacks and drinks in-between.

It has also challenged the food industry to cut a fifth of calories from popular family foods over the next six years.

The campaign aims to help people tackle the ‘calorie creep’ that sees 63 per cent of adults in the North West overweight or obese.

And the campaign has been supported by East Lancashire’s patients’ champion Russ McLean.

He said: “It’s very hard to reduce obesity as so many of us lead such sedentary lifestyles.

“I think there’s an onus on the food and drinks industry to to give us more information about the food they’re putting in our mouths.

“Traffic light labelling on food and drink needs to be mandatory and very clearly labelled so we can all be informed and make choices as consumers about the food we’re eating.

“There is of course an onus on individuals also to make changes to their lifestyle in terms of what they eat.”

Cllr Munsif Dad, cabinet portfolio holder for health and communities on Hyndburn Council, also backed the campaign as 'very much welcome.'

He said: "Any national campaign to address a national issues, which is especially the case in East Lancashire, will help raise awareness of calorie intake and obesity.

"I very much welcome this campaign."

The call comes after PHE found that some children are eating the equivalent of an extra meal a day in calories.

Mr Selbie, chief executive at PHE, said the campaign was ‘not an attack on overweight folk’.

He said: “Britain needs to go on a diet.

“The simple truth is on average we need to eat less.

“Children and adults routinely eat too many calories and it’s why so many are overweight or obese.

“Industry can help families by finding innovative ways to lower the calories in the food we all enjoy.

“It is not an attack on overweight folk, it is about getting more options and extending knowledge and more choices.”

PHE’s chief nutritionist Dr Alison Tedston said: “To get traction on this, the big-selling things need to change.

“A few healthy options on the end of a menu won’t help solve the nation’s obesity problem - we need the regular, every day products to change.”

“We have more obese children in England than ever before.

“We have moved on from it [obesity] affecting a small section of society, it is the norm now.”

“When we look at overweight or obese children - basically a third of kids - we can see that they are consuming up to 500 calories a day more than they require.

“This is a lot of calories - 500 calories is an extra meal a day, it is a lot, and that’s why we have an obesity problem in this country.”