Coffee culture, the increased consumption of high protein sports drinks and the use of tablets and smart phones are undermining people's efforts to maintain a healthy weight, new guidance has noted.
To combat these and other lifestyle choices, children and adults should carry out regular physical activity as simple as dancing, heavy gardening or walking briskly up a hill, the advice from Britain's National Institute for Health and Care Excellence says.
Its new guidelines to help adults and children maintain a healthy weight and prevent weight gain makes a number of suggestions such as consuming water instead of drinks containing free sugars during exercise, and reducing TV viewing and other screen time.
It says that weight gain in later life should not be seen as inevitable, as it is possible to avoid gaining weight with age by being physically active and eating a diet that is mainly based on vegetables, fruits, beans and pulses, wholegrains and fish.
But it notes that even though small changes can help, no single physical activity, food or drink will maintain a healthy weight - instead a combination of these actions is needed.
The number of people classified as obese has nearly doubled over the last 20 years and continues to increase, it said.
The cost to society and the economy is estimated at around STG16 billion ($A31 billion) but this could rise to just under STG50 billion ($A96.67 billion) in 2050.
Share
