MPs today attacked the government for taking six months to tackle obesity despite their warnings of a crisis in the nation's health.

The MPs from the House of Commons health select committee highlighted in May last year how other countries were far more advanced in the way they educated people to eat healthily. But the government didn't publish its public health white paper, which included action on obesity, until November.

The committee has responsibility for monitoring the actions and performance of the Department of Health (DoH).

A DoH spokeswoman said: "We were in correspondence with the committee, and we explained that many of the points were going to be addressed in our white paper."

The committee cited its biggest success as a major inquiry into obesity, a condition linked to a wide range of diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, renal feature, osteoarthritis, and psychological damage.

Several of the recommendations of the obesity report found their way into the white paper, including a health promotion campaign and a new labelling system for food.

The MPs visited Finland and Denmark to look at the ways those countries tackled obesity, including a school in Helsinki where children were given no option but to eat healthy meals.

The committee in its annual Work of the Committee review detailed its inquiries and six published reports for 2004, saying it had scrutinised deficiencies in the present system such as with elder abuse, revealing that half a million elderly people are abused every year.

Its inquiries also looked into palliative care, GP out-of-hours provision and public expenditure.

"The committee has done an impressive job in raising awareness and stimulating debate, especially when it has concentrated on examining deficiencies in existing policies," said the report.