There are individuals, however, who have dug that ungrand canyon, found themselves at the bottom, and went on to climb out of that crevasse to reach a place of renewed health and fitness.

Question:Hello, Dr. Scott. We are really concerned about our daughter who recently came back from college up north for the summer. She has gained a lot of weight and we're not sure how to talk to her about it. She has always been a big girl.

HEALTH officials in Derbyshire are to cut back on the number of operations being carried out to help obese people lose weight.

Last year 250 people in the city underwent surgery to have gastric bands fitted to reduce the size of their stomachs – and their appetites.

This will now be restricted to just the "super obese".

But the move has been criticised by one man who underwent gastric band surgery four years ago after battling with his weight for 15 years and topping the scales at 22 stone.

David Speirs, pictured, has since lost three stone and said: "I think if you're really desperate for it you should have it, even if you've not got any other health problems, because if you keep putting weight on you might die."