Public Health England (PHE) is set to introduce new guidelines next year which advise that adults cut their calorie consumption to 1,800 kcals per day.
Currently, official government recommendations state that women can consume 2,000 calories while men should consume around 2,500.
The new guidelines are expected to launch in March 2018, as part of a campaign titled ‘One You’ which surprisingly recommends that both men and women consume the same number of calories per day.
And breakfast is no longer being hailed as the most important meal of the day, as recommendations suggest that it now takes up just 400 calories, while lunch and dinner will come in at 600 calories each. That leaves 200 calories for snacks.
A PHE spokesman stated: ‘We can no longer hide behind the charade that having a takeaway or eating out is merely a treat. Adults consume 200 to 300 excess calories each day and this calorie creep is contributing to weight gain and other serious health conditions.’
The UK is currently the most obese nation in Western Europe and PHE hopes the new guidelines will encourage the public to think more carefully about their portion sizes in the future.
