MP Gerry Steinberg claims that too many people are being labelled as obese.

The Durham City MP challenged the formula used to calculate obesity during a meeting of the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee.

According to a new report more than half of English women and two-thirds of English men are officially obese.

But the MP, who lost a stone-and-a-half last year, said he did not accept the formula.

"If I am reading it rightly I am 28 BMI which is two off being obese. Now if this is the sort of formula which is calculating who is fat and obese then frankly it seems to me that the vast majority of people who are being talked about as being fat and obese are not fat and obese in the first place."

The indignant MP stood up and asked officials: "If I hadn't lost that one-and-a-half stone this thing would have made me obese . Well, I'm not obese. Am I obese?"

While agreeing that the Government had a role to play in treating obesity-related illness Mr Steinberg had harsh words for those who did not help themselves.

"Those who are fat and obese, other than some of them who are actually ill, are really to blame because they indulge, they do no exercise, they sit on their backsides and they just get bigger, don't they?"