The region’s director of public health said complacency among a section of the population he described as being the “unworried, unwell” was part of the problem.

He also believes modern lifestyles fail to provide a healthy balance between food intake and energy output.

Dr Walker said, “There are very significant numbers of people who are over-weight, obese or even morbidly obese.

“The trends are going strongly in the wrong direction.

“There is a very clear link with poverty.

“We need to reduce the calorie or energy content of people’s diets and increase levels of activity. If you do one without the other, it doesn’t really work.

“Over 50% of adults in Tayside are overweight and that is increasing.

“These people are more likely to develop serious chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease and some types of cancer.

“Depression, sleep apnoea and joint problems are all linked with being overweight and obesity.

“We always talk about the worried well but a lot of the people we are talking about are the unworried unwell.

“Of the people who are overweight, the loss of as little as 5 or 10% of body weight could make a huge difference.”

Joyce Thompson, NHS Tayside’s dietetic consultant for public health nutrition, said a particular concern was the number of children whose health was at risk because of weight.

She said, “The proportion of children becoming obese is increasing and they are beginning to present with risk factors associated with chronic disease.

“There is no doubt obesity is one of the biggest public health problems we are faced with at the moment. It is a complex problem that needs a range of solutions.”