Overweight individuals would benefit more from incentives that encourage them to lose weight, rather than penalties imposed due to their size, an expert says.

Healthy foods could also play a key role in changing the eating habits of overweight people and should be more accessible, according to a representative from the Department of Exercise, Nutrition and Health Sciences at the University of Bristol.

Sue Baic, senior lecturer for the department, said: " Something like 95 per cent of the population know that we should be having five fruit and vegetables a day but it is about making healthy choices the easy choices, so people can actually get these foods."

Ms Baic added that the issue can be rectified by providing people with information about cheap healthy foods such as fish, pasta and rice.

Last month, a survey conducted by Datamonitor discovered that two-thirds of Brits are either overweight or obese.