Comment on Daily Mail article dated Jul 10 2009

Source: British Asians should be classed as obese at a lower BMI limit due to high risk of heart disease

This article raises a valid point that if people cut down on their calorie intake then potentially they would live longer. Of course eating less calories will also mean people losing weight. However what the article doesn't really address is the types of foods/calories people should be cutting out. If people cut fruit and vegetables out of their diet to shave extra calories off their daily intake then their life expectancy certainly wouldn't increase.

Importantly it is not the actual amount of food people eat that is the major problem. It’s 'what' people choose to eat rather than 'how much' they choose to eat that causes their diet to be unhealthy and it the cause of their weight gain. For example if we look at vegetables versus biscuits. You would have to eat a far greater amount of vegetables to biscuits in order to consume the same amount of calories.

So the message we need to take from this is that it is not all about trying to eat less food, but making healthier choices.

Expert: Rob Bowman