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Spending more on bariatric surgery than on the national roll-out of lifestyle intervention programmes that would cut obesity has been described as “inexplicable and unacceptable” by the influential House of Commons health select committee.

In a report entitled “The impact of physical activity and diet on health”, the committee said that encouraging individuals to change their behaviour was important, but such work needed to be underpinned by population-level measures that would impact on greater numbers of people.

Such interventions included consideration of the pricing and availability of unhealthy foods, and redesigning environments to promote physical activity and make healthy choices the default option, recommended the committee.

The next Government needed to prioritise prevention, health promotion and early intervention to tackle the health inequalities and avoidable harm that resulted from poor diet and physical inactivity, with action taken at all levels and forming core business for the NHS and local authorities.

The Government, Public Health England and health professionals, in particular GPs, need to take urgent action to communicate the benefits of exercise – for physical and mental health, as well as weight management – to the public, and more work needs to be done on auditing how relevant NICE guidance was being implemented with a view to driving forward the agenda, the report states.