Health charities today renewed calls for a ban on the advertising of junk food to children as new government research predicted rising obesity in the next few years.
More than 12 million adults and 1 million children will be obese by 2010, according to a forecast published today by the Department of Heath.
The growing obesity crisis is expected to cause thousands more people to suffer related diseases like cancer, heart disease and type 2 diabetes.
Media regulator Ofcom is consulting on possibly restricting junk food adverts, including during programmes broadcast before 9pm and aimed at children.
However, the health secretary, Patricia Hewitt, indicated today that the government would not be pushing strongly for curbs on advertising. She argued about the importance of personal responsibility in the battle against obesity.
Ms Hewitt said lifestyle was important and spoke about the importance of exercise. Fast food firms such as McDonald's who oppose curbs on advertising have long made similar arguments.
Ms Hewitt said Ofcom and the government would have to assess how far advertising actually influenced the choices children made.
"We need to look certainly at the impact on broadcasting and whether that would actually damage children's television programming which, in itself, is extremely important. We need to balance those different things and then we'll make a decision," she told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.
However, several health charities and campaigners called for tougher action by the government on advertising. Richard Watts, from the campaign for a children's food bill, which is backed by 286 MPs and about 170 organisations including charities, attacked the government's line on advertising.
He said: "Progress on these fronts is so slow because the government seems determined not to upset the powerful food industry. The time has come to stop pussy-footing about and take the urgent action we need."
Maura Gillespie, head of policy and public affairs at the British Heart Foundation, also repeated their call for tighter restrictions on food advertising.
"We are demanding the government place restrictions on advertising junk food to children before the 9pm watershed - a policy that can only have a positive impact on young people's attitudes to foods high in fat, sugar and salt."
Tam Fry, board member of the National Obesity Forum, said: "The obesity figures announced today are tragic but no-one should be surprised by them.
"The government has been announcing for years what needs to be done to fight the nation's fat - but then has done very little to achieve it. It may have played around with a few initiatives but real action is still not yet apparent."
Today's figures show a total of 22% of girls and 19% of boys aged between two and 15 will be regarded as obese by 2010. A third of all men will be obese - rising from 4 million to 7 million in the next four years.
The report says around a third of adults and a fifth of all children will be obese, citing statistics from the health survey for England. In the past, major health problems such as cholera, typhoid and polio had to be tackled by government, Ms Hewitt said.
However, she added: "These days, our health depends at least as much on what each of us do for ourselves and our children as it does what the government and NHS does for us."
Asked why the government had taken a hard line on banning smoking but seemed reluctant to intervene on the same scale to tackle obesity, Ms Hewitt said there was a "critical difference".
"Having some crisps occasionally, having some chocolate because you enjoy it occasionally, is not going to do you any great health harm, whereas smoking a little bit is always going to do you health harm.
"There is also quite an important debate and a lot of mixed evidence about how far advertising of food actually does affect the choices children and their parents make."
The Tory health spokesman, Andrew Lansley, said the government had failed to stop the rise in obesity during its nine years in power.
"In 1999 they even abandoned targets set in 1992 to reduce it," he said.
"If current trends continue life expectancy could actually start to decline. The government needs to improve on its woeful record or the health of the nation will continue to suffer."
The Liberal Democrat health spokeswoman, Sandra Gidley, said the government's policy was prioritising spin over real action. She said: "The government has created measures for GPs to identify obesity but have not backed them up with concrete resources to actually tackle the problems."
Stuart Jeffery, the Green party's health spokesman, said the government was "in bed with the corporate" food lobby.
He said the "key determinants of public health are in the control of national and local government" but it was clear "Patricia Hewitt accepts no responsibility for the worsening obesity crisis and is intent on blaming individuals for the epidemic".
