Our diets have got to change (From Thisisdorset)

Our diets have got to change

11:19am Wednesday 16th August 2006 in News By Charis Mastris

A LIVER disease charity has backed the idea of subsidising fruit and veg as a way to combat obesity, as experts have announced there are now more overweight people across the world than hungry ones.

The British Liver Trust, based in Ringwood, has said fruit and vegetable subsidies "would be a most welcome step forward" in the fight against liver disease - though individuals must also be encouraged to take responsibility for eating healthily.

The trust's comments come after Professor Barry Popkin, from the University of North Carolina, told the International Association of Agricultural Economists there are now more than one billion overweight people in the world, compared with 800 million undernourished.

He added that obesity was becoming more common among the poor, and that food prices could be used to steer people towards healthier food.

"If we subsidise fruit and vegetable production, people would consume more of it and we would have a healthier diet," he said.

According to the British Liver Trust, Britain has the fastest growing rate of obesity in the developed world, and around one in five adults in the UK are obese.

Obesity can cause non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, which may lead to liver fibrosis, cirrhosis and ultimately to liver cancer.

It is also estimated that by the end of the decade, the number of people with type two diabetes could reach three million.

Chief executive Alison Rogers said: "While much of the recent increase in liver disease has been alcohol-related, a major contributory factor is the nature and quantity of food we are eating.

"Our unhealthy lifestyle is storing up huge problems for the future."

She added that a healthy diet means getting the right balance between different foods and enables the liver to work more effectively.

For many people, this means a change towards eating more fruit, vegetables and higher fibre, starchy foods.