Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what is their general advice for (1) how much fat, and (2) what kind of fat, they recommend people eat; and what assessment they have made of the effect of exercise to weight reduction by comparison with reducing the number of calories in the diet.

Fats are an essential part of a healthy, balanced diet. The Government’s dietary recommendations state that no more than 33% of total energy should come from fats, including no more than approximately 10% of total energy from saturated fats. The advice for the general population is to reduce intakes of saturated fats and replace with more unsaturated fats from sources such as oily fish, rapeseed oil, sunflower oil, nuts and seeds.

Daily physical activity can contribute to maintaining a healthy weight and the prevention and management of certain diseases. This approach should place an emphasis on changing dietary behaviour to reduce calorie intake and support people to self-monitor and manage everyday challenging situations.