I conduct a lot of research on obesity and try to come up with different ways to help in what is the ever-increasing crisis of obesity in this country. Mandatory calorie labelling has been looked at recently in America, in particular in regard to the volume of exercise which would be required to burn off individual food and drink products. The vast majority of people do not realise that, for example, a glass of wine will take an hour to walk off and that an Indian takeaway will take about seven hours to walk off. One measure which has proved effective-----

That is the reality, although people do not realise it. One measure which has proved effective in the United States is where calories have been printed on menus. This research has shown customers consume 6% fewer calories on average once calories are listed on menus. According to the Food Safety Authority of Ireland, if calorie intake was reduced by 6%, it would have a major effect on our obesity levels and, therefore, our type 2 diabetes problem. Diabetes is nearly four times as common as all types of cancer combined and the risk soars as the pounds pile on. The Food Safety Authority of Ireland's recent report also revealed that 96% of consumers want calorie menu labelling in all or some food outlets. I believe we could take it one step further. Labels displaying information on physical activity would allow people to realise the trade-offs with regard to high calorie foods and thereby influence them to make choices to eat more healthy foods. A new study being conducted in North Carolina is examining whether adding the amount of walking it takes to burn off the calories in food items will lead to consumers making healthier choices. There are significant results which show that it would influence people's choices when it comes to eating healthy food.