We need to face up to some uncomfortable truths around obesity in this country, writes the Tameside Radio presenter in his latest column.

The latest food shortage story involves some supermarkets limiting customers to two packs of peppers. I am struggling to imagine a scenario where I'd need to buy more than this amount, but then again I wouldn't have believed a Government Minister extolling the virtues of turnips would have led to turnip panic buying until it happened. I suppose it makes a change from the days of the bog roll bandits in 2020.

Tempting though it is to launch into a rant about the reasons behind our sparse shelves compared to countries in the European Union (it surely can't all be down to unseasonably cold weather in Spain?), I instead wanted to touch on the issue of obesity.

It's something we really need to have more conversations about, as nearly one in three of us in the UK is classed as obese. We are in a worse state than anywhere else in Europe, aside from Turkey and Malta. A staggering five million people are estimated to be at risk of contracting Type 2 diabetes.

We are eating too much processed food, and to be mind there are not enough offers on healthy items. If you look at the average products supermarkets place at the end of aisles, they are often the things that should be regarded as occasional treats.

If you're a "marketer's dream" like me (as my wife often tells me I am), the sight of discounted trifle and pizza makes me a bit weak at the knees, especially when I make the fatal mistake of going shopping when hungry.

Food inflation has hit us all incredibly hard in the last year, and many of us are looking to swap from brands to own-label alternatives. I would love to see more fruit and veg at the end of aisles on offer though, rather than pies and pasties.

The sugar tax levied on full fat Coke is about the only measure that's been brought in by the Government, for fear of "Nanny state" accusations being levelled at them. Perhaps we could do with a bit of nannying, and a Government not afraid of standing up to the powerful food and drink industry, which employs over three million people.

Recently, the Institute for Government wrote that "there have been 14 strategies, 689 policies and 10 targets". Crude measures like sticking calories on the menu at restaurants and pubs do little to change things. I've argued in the past that I think it can actually be harmful to do this, both to people with eating disorders, and to suggest that it's a simple numbers game. Avocado is high in calories, but I'd suggest avocado on a slice of seeded bread would be a far better alternative than a donut or chocolate bar, even though the latter is probably fewer calories.

The Government's food tsar Henry Dimbleby recently announced his resignation in the Sunday Times, stating that ministers had "pulled back" on promises to restrict junk food advertising. He told BBC Radio 4's Today Programme: "In 10 years' time, whatever government is in power, they are going to be dealing with huge problems to the NHS, which is going to suck money from the rest of government spending and cause misery from diet-related disease". To kick the can down the road is dishonest and dangerous.

A planned ban on "buy one get one free" offers was shelved last year, citing the cost of living crisis, even though many experts have said the offers encourage us to buy more than we need and waste food as a result. 26% of us are obese in England, whilst a further 38 per cent are overweight.

It's not easy talking about weight, but perhaps we need some intervention, before the resulting problems bring our already over-burdened health service to its knees. I'm absolutely not advocating banning any foods, but we need to face up to some uncomfortable truths about the state of our waistlines. I've battled with my weight for years, and will always love food and eating, but we can't keep burying our heads in the sand. Something has to change.

Back to Henry Dimbleby for the final word. His call to the food industry: "We need once again to muster our ingenuity, to reshape the way we produce, sell and consume food so it stops making us and the world sick".