More than eight in ten middle aged adults are dangerously unhealthy because of a desk-bound work culture and family pressures, Government experts have warned.

New figures show 83 per cent of people between the ages of 40 and 60 are either drinking too much, are overweight or are not taking enough exercise.

The Health Survey for England show that 77 per cent of men and 63 per cent of women in middle age are either overweight or obese - with the rate of obesity shooting up 16 per cent in the last two decades.