More people than ever taking 'fat pills'

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New government figures show that GPs wrote 1m obesity drug prescriptions in 2006 - more than an eight-fold rise in just seven years.

The NHS Information Centre's Health Of The Nation report will also reveal that people are failing to heed healthy lifestyle messages.

Many people are not exercising enough, which is leading to problems such as high blood pressure.

The Government recommends adults take at least half an hour of exercise at least five times a week. But the report is expected to show that people are failing to reach these targets.

Rising obesity levels are putting huge pressure on the NHS. Experts warn that by 2050 half the population will be obese.

The Government has already announced a raft of new measuresto tackle the obesityproblemincluding financial incentives and more slimming on prescription programmes.

But obesity pills are also being widely used. These include Orlistat and Sibutramine, which cost the NHS over £1 a day to prescribe.

Official guidelines say these pills should only be prescribed to chronically obese patients.

But experts have accused GPs of "overmedicalising" obesity by prescribing pills.

The British Medical Association says there is no conclusive evidence that anti-obesity drugs work in the long term.

Dr Colin Waine, of the National Obesity Forum, said: "These findings are disconcerting. Unless people slim down they are at risk from cancer and diabetes."