People are obese not merely because they stuff their faces with junk-food but because, when thay are not eating, they are sitting on their fat arses! The only reason people are fat is because the energy they consume exceeds the energy they use. I'm no great fan of McDonalds or any other fast-food chain, but if people got back to an active lifestyle, they would not get fat, whatever type of food they ate. A good case can be made that there are other medical advantages from a diet involving lots of fresh fruit and vegetables, but that is not the subject being addressed here.

Bob Finbow, Haverhill, England

me too. i could murder a double cheeseburger right now.

jonti, london, uk

This is disgusting - the intelligence of the uk is alarming. Think Macdonalds should have to contribute to the NHS if this this continues.

Glad to say mcdonalds as not had a penny off me for about 10 years now. i'd rather eat from the bins - got to be healthier.

Liam O'Meara, Northampton,

Can people really not afford to eat fruit&veg, even fruit&veg from the discount shops like Aldi? Their fruit and veg is so cheap its probably cheaper to buy them and cook something fresh rather than buy these ready made meals or eat in fast food resturants. The biggest problem isn't money for most people it's that they are lazy and don't want to learn how to cook nutritious meals. I work in a developing country with people who have severely malnourished children who have nothing and I mean live on maybe 50cent per day, but once you teach them how to cook healthy food that is available to them they will continue to do this every day. We need to wake up and stop whingehing that food is too expensive, we are a sight better off than the majority of the world.
LF, Ireland.

LF, Ireland, Ireland

Wish i could afford to eat two or three fruit and veg a day
but i cant afford it so im going to have to carry on eating cheap food

michael atherton, keighley, west yorkshire

London is so freaking expensive even for the folks who live there. Forget travellers from the west, most of the McDonalds was swamped by Britians (not tourists) as it is quick and most importantly - CHEAP. It is not good to eat all the time but you are left with no choice but to pick up a mac with fries and drinks to go easy on your wallet. Such a disturbing reality.

SG, New York, USA

As a McDonalds shareholder I loved this article. On a recent visit to India I can confirn the restaurants are packed out there also just like ROC-plus a chicken sandwich at 60 rupees or so is within the reach of millions pricewise,You Brits should quit moaning and get in on this-instead of putting so much money in the property market.Make mine a Big Mac please!!

BOBBATH, TORONTO, CANADA

reading between the lines its sounds as if jamie oliver's team didn't really give the supermarkets much notice for this 'meeting' then could cry foul when unsurprisingly they didn't show thus generating a bit of free publicity. The British like most people are happy to be mainly in the dark about the real cost and implications of slaughtering animals for food.We also divide along class lines as issues of affordability and middle class angst play their part.Like the after effects of the film Babe a certain amount will be 'veggie for a while, the already smug free-ranger's/organics will be reassured and the rest will remain with their heads in the sand of denial.

Natalie El-barrawi, Retford, Notts

Isn't £1.2 million a little excessive!

George, Oxon.,

There will be a time where space will be a sought after commodity, especially when people reach the point where they're 6 foot in diameter. Being over-weight or obese should be outlawed in Britain. After all, who wants to eat where they can see an obese chomping down the equivalent of Wales for their brunch.

Richard, Cambridge,

I'm happy people are ignoring the Government. I think most of us aremore than a little sick and tired of the Governments interference with our lifestyles.
Its down to parent to ensure their children are raised right, not the Government.

Phill , The Wirral, England

Lets face it - its cheep - the only take away meal the British public can afford now with rising petrol prices, increasing fuel charges, increasing mortages payments etc.

Tony, Redhill, Surrey

So the backlash against nanny state government is under way. Now we need people to start smoking in pubs again (with the landlords permission of course), and hopefully we will be on our way back to freedom!

Pete, St Albans, England

You should see the figures for China! The franchises here are never, ever quiet! So much for promoting health, sport and the Olympic Games. The new generation are fast food addicts, just take a walk around a primary school and see the size of some students, obese by 10 years of age!

D, Shanghai, PRC

There is a theory about the roman empire: it fell to ruins because its citizens were progressively intoxicated by the excessive amount of lead in their food, coming from cooking pans and from the plumbing in their acqueducts.
Maybe the western civilization will eventually fall because its citizens are too stupid to amend their unheathy diet?
A millenary civilization killed by hamburgers, milk shakes and fried chickens.

riccardo bianchini, cremona, italy

Just reading this article makes me want to go out and get
a Big Mac.

Jerry Scrogginj, Phoenix, Arizona/USA