Advice to cut back on saturated fat ‘has increased obesity risk’

A UK medical expert has called for new efforts to tackle the "myth" that cutting back on saturated fats is beneficial to health.

Aseem Malhotra, interventional cardiology specialist registrar at Croydon University Hospital in London, has written a British Medical Journal article which highlights the fact that recent studies have failed to find any major link between saturated fat and an increased cardiovascular disease risk.

Despite this, the focus on saturated fats has led to the over-medication of millions of people with statins, while diverting attention from the more serious risk factors such as atherogenic dyslipidaemia, or unfavourable ratios of blood fats.

As such, the expert suggested that current advice on fat consumption has actually increased the risk of heart disease and obesity, as people are unaware of the more risks posed by excess refined carbohydrates and sugar.

Dr Malhotra said: "It is time to bust the myth of the role of saturated in heart disease and wind back the harms of dietary advice that has contributed to obesity."

A survey published in 2012 found that just over a quarter of all adults in England are obese, a proportion that is expected to rise in the coming years.