‘We are gargantuan gannets in the UK!’ Fat Families host demands compulsory calories on menus

But according to Miller, making the information more accessible would be a “useful tool” in the battle against obesity in Britain, which he believes is spiralling out of control.

“We’re talking about putting in very small characters on a menu how many calories are in a dish to help people manage their weight”, he said on GB News.

“I think that is very constructive. In the UK, we are gargantuan gannets and we do need to stop, look and listen a little bit more.

“On a menu, just having the calories there to give us guidance, I think we’re being drama queens if we think that will cause eating disorders.

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“Obesity is an eating disorder and with 25 per cent of the population now very fat, maybe we need these sorts of measures.

“We need to be more in people’s faces about these things.”

Offering a counterpoint to Miller's claims was Samantha Crilly, a mental health ambassador who is concerned such a move could have crippling effects and promote food disorders.

“They’ve tried to tackle one issue and not tackled the other”, he said.

“People with anorexia are trying to get away from calories, to have it shoved in their face is difficult for them.

“One option would be to have a menu with calories and one without.

“I do think for people with food disorders, it is the worst thing they could have done.”

In the discussion during Breakfast with Ellie Costello and Pip Tomson, she continued: “For younger kids, I think it's making them obsessed at a very early age, rather than looking at food for just being real food.”

“If you are suffering from obesity, you would think you need to start from home, you need to cook from home , you need to cook fresh, you're not going to be eating out five nights a week. You're going to be cooking at home and when you do eat out it will be a treat, it will be a guilt-free treat.

“I just don't think having calories on menus is going to solve it, there's a lot of deeper issues.”

Under a flagship initiative, the Government forced large restaurants across England to label every meal with its calorie count to clamp down on obesity in April 2022.

Businesses that fail to comply face fines of £2,500.

Now there are calls to expand the initiative and include smaller restaurants in the scheme after the study found potentially significant benefits.