Ministers have been given a stark warning on the rise in obesity in Britain.

A report published jointly by the Royal College of Physicians, the Faculty of Public Health and the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health said that, if current trends continue, a third of adults will be obese by 2020.

At present, obesity causes an estimated 30,000 deaths a year.

Wednesday's report called for government action at a Cabinet level to tackle the problem.

Proposals included a national campaign to educate the public about healthy living, while the Food Standards Agency should work with the food industry to produce and promote more healthy products.

The organisations also called for health professionals to be trained into how best to manage and prevent the condition, and for greater research into why obesity is still a problem.

"It's important for our children and their children that we tackle the obesity problem because if we don't there's going to be a disaster further down the line," said Professor Peter Kopelm, chairman of the working party.

Sense of perspective

Health secretary John Reid welcomed the publication of the study.

"The authors are right to highlight the problem of increasing obesity, particularly among our young people," he said.

"We need to find the right balance between so-called 'nannying' and simply washing our hands of our people's health.

"That's why we have announced a consultation which will lead to a white paper later in the year setting out the future policy on public health."

Conservative MP Ann Widdecombe, who appeared on ITV's Celebrity Fit Club, called for the issue to be kept in perspective.

"If you look around the average playground there may be one or two children who are Billy Bunters but the overwhelming majority will be tearing around screaming, healthy and enjoying themselves," she said.

"We are all being encouraged to watch every pound.

"People who look perfectly normal and are healthy worry themselves into a passion over putting on half a stone over Christmas.

Shadow health secretary Tim Yeo, however, said the government's response "really isn’t good enough".

“The Conservative Party believes there is an overwhelming case for decentralisation within the NHS," he said.

"However, the exception to this rule is public health, which needs to be conducted at a population-based level.

"The Labour government approach is therefore entirely upside down – they have centralised the NHS and fragmented public health.”