TV DIET EXPERT GILLIAN MCKEITH, 49, SAYS IT’S TIME TO STOP BLAMING OTHER PEOPLE AND START TAKING CHARGE WHEN IT COMES TO OUR WEIGHT

Excuse me while I climb up on my soapbox, but I’m angry.

Every week there seem to be more news stories criticising the NHS: hospital waiting lists are too long, people can’t get GP appointments – the complaints go on.

But don’t you think the NHS could do a better job if it didn’t have to deal with the fallout from so many cases of self-inflicted obesity?

We’re always saying the government, supermarkets and food manufacturers aren’t doing enough about the UK’s fat crisis, but I reckon we’re shifting the blame to protect our own (sometimes very wobbly) backsides.

When are the rest of us going to stop playing victims and start taking charge of our health?

When are we going to stop queuing outside GP surgeries for self-inflicted and avoidable ills, and acknowledge that while we know eating junk food and drinking alcohol will make us overweight and unwell, no one is forcing it down our throats?

We have to take responsibility for our own actions.

If you’ve fed your child such a poor diet that they can’t even bend down to tie their laces without getting puffed out, you can’t moan when social services start banging on your door with claims of abuse – like it or not, it is abuse.

And why should the NHS have to deal with your family’s high blood pressure and diabetes 20 years from now because you couldn’t be bothered to give them a healthy diet in the first place?

It’s time to take charge – physically and mentally – and accept that no one else is to blame for your weight but you.

We have more control and power over our own health than you imagine.

And it’s not difficult.

Just make sure your diet is sensible and balanced, and you can reduce minor ailments like headaches, colds, and infections.

I’ve been teaching well-being and nutrition for years.

When people follow the advice I give them, their lives change for the better forever.

So if you haven’t already done so, it’s time to stop blaming the NHS and take responsibility for your own health.

Gillian McKeith’s Food Bible: The Complete A-Z Guide To A Healthy Life (Michael Joseph, £18.99) is out now (Gillianmckeith.info).

Photography: Nicky Johnson/Camera Press, Photolibrary.com