Health officials want to encourage better eating habits

They say more and more people are being diagnosed as obese, but figures show the problem is worse among women.

One in four women (25%) is believed to be obese in the county, compared to national figures of 23%.

David Walley of the county council said it was an issue that the local authority was committed to helping people deal with.

There are cost implications, but there's also just the sense of well-being Dr Kerry Bailey

Dr Kerry Bailey, a registrar in public health at the West of Cornwall Primary Care Trust, said the rates of obesity are cause for concern not just for the health service but for society as a whole.

She said: "Already about three-quarters of men and half of women are overweight.

"In obesity, it's gone from one in five women to one four, and it's increasing annually.

"With that we have all the problems of people dying earlier from cardiovascular disease or diabetes, and we'll have more of an unwell population generally.

"There are all the cost implications, but there's also just the sense of well-being."

Dr Bailey said messages in eating healthily, taking more exercise, adopting a more active lifestyle are on the increase, but that it was essential more work was done to find out why people still were not listening.

She said: "We've got to look at the barriers to people becoming more active and eating healthily, and overcoming these."

David Walley of Cornwall County Council's health and social care overview and scrutiny committee said he believed it was an issue the local authority was committed to, but that local government walked a fine line as to how much it can trumpet some health drives.

He said: "There is a balance between encouraging people and being dictatorial and trying to force people. Everybody should have a choice.

"But people should be aware of the implications of the lifestyle they choose."