I am a bit scared to mention this but, as a GP working in London, I’ve not seen any patients suffering from hunger.

The Trussell Trust, which runs a large number of food banks, uses the strapline “Stop UK Hunger”. For them to say there is “hunger" suggests there are people suffering from lack of food and malnourishment. The number of food banks opening has led to concerns about the state of our country and questions about why there is an increased need.

Yes, I do see people who are malnourished. Who is to say at first if a patient is simply slim or if they are too thin? A pointy face, all angles, is the first thing I notice when malnourishment is a possibility. If it’s severe, I see that their elbow joints are wider than their limbs. I do a back examination and see parts of the spine not usually visible rippling under the skin.

This person has usually dipped below a normal size and their BMI is less than 18.5. It doesn’t always mean they are unhealthy, but it usually means there is something wrong.

I am always looking for loss of weight or low weight. I ask about appetite and weight all day long. Low weight is a red flag; it tells me to look further. But every time I have seen someone malnourished, they have had a clear medical reason for it: young men with chronic renal failure; women with type 1 diabetes; people living with a disordered relationship with food. Low weight in a child without a medical reason requires an urgent social services referral for possible neglect.

But in the UK, people are usually malnourished the other way around: obesity is an increasing problem and all the evidence suggests that low income is associated with being overweight, rather than hunger.

The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned Show all 16 1 /16 The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned "One case where the claimant’s wife went into premature labour and had to go to hospital. This caused the claimant to miss an appointment. No leeway given" The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned "It’s Christmas Day and you don’t fill in your job search evidence form to show that you’ve looked for all the new jobs that are advertised on Christmas Day. You are sanctioned. Merry Christmas" The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned "You apply for three jobs one week and three jobs the following Sunday and Monday. Because the job centre week starts on a Tuesday it treats this as applying for six jobs in one week and none the following week. You are sanctioned for 13 weeks for failing to apply for three jobs each week" The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned "A London man missed his Jobcentre appointments for two weeks because he was in hospital after being hit by a car. He was sanctioned" 2011 Getty Images The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned "You’ve been unemployed for seven months and are forced onto a workfare scheme in a shop miles away, but can’t afford to travel. You offer to work in a nearer branch but are refused and get sanctioned for not attending your placement" 2013 Getty Images The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned "You are a mum of two, and are five minutes late for your job centre appointment. You show the advisor the clock on your phone, which is running late. You are sanctioned for a month" The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned "A man with heart problems who was on Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) had a heart attack during a work capability assessment. He was then sanctioned for failing to complete the assessment" Rex The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned "A man who had gotten a job that was scheduled to begin in two weeks’ time was sanctioned for not looking for work as he waited for the role to start" The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned "Army veteran Stephen Taylor, 60, whose Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) was stopped after he sold poppies in memory of fallen soldiers" 2014 Getty Images The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned "A man had to miss his regular appointment at the job centre to attend his father’s funeral. He was sanctioned even though he told DWP staff in advance" 2014 Getty Images The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned "Ceri Padley, 26, had her benefits sanctioned after she missed an appointment at the jobcentre - because she was at a job interview" Jason Doiy Photography The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned "A man got sanctioned for missing his slot to sign on - as he was attending a work programme interview. He was then sanctioned as he could not afford to travel for his job search" 2012 Getty Images The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned "Mother-of-three Angie Godwin, 27, said her benefits were sanctioned after she applied for a role job centre staff said was beyond her" The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned "Sofya Harrison was sanctioned for attending a job interview and moving her signing-on to another day" The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned "Michael, 54, had his benefits sanctioned for four months for failing to undertake a week’s work experience at a charity shop. The charity shop had told him they didn’t want him there" Getty The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned "Terry Eaton, 58, was sanctioned because he didn’t have the bus fare he needed to attend an appointment with the job centre" Getty Images

Public Health England data shows severe obesity has increased from 15 per cent to 26 per cent since 2000. In the lowest income bracket, 37.6 per cent of people are obese compared with 18.3 per cent in the highest. Or to put it another way, 38 per cent of people are obese in the most deprived areas of the UK compared with 20 per cent in the least deprived.

The food boxes that the Trussell Trust hands out will not help the obesity problem. They contain non-perishable items – as they must – such as pasta, rice, tinned vegetables and fruit, fruit juice and biscuits. According to the trust’s own statistics, 78 per cent of people using food banks do so because they have low income, benefit delay, benefit change or are in debt. The banks supplement a weekly benefits allowance of £73.10 – a figure that makes it very hard for so many to manage staying within a budget.

I actually tried ringing the Jobcentre to see what they thought about this issue. It didn’t feel great holding onto the automated line. “We will treat your personal information carefully. We will use it for any of our purposes,” recited the recorded voice, with chilling formality. After 10 minutes of phone menus, I heard, “If you are applying for a new claim for JSA you need to apply online, goodbye,” and the phone went dead. At least the line was free to call.

Food banks do have a place: they help out financially, albeit briefly. But trying to prove that the rise in food bank use is evidence for hunger is difficult to back up with data. The research on food insecurity in the UK has a curiously circular nature. Proposals have been launched in parliament by UKSSD, backed up by statements from the Trussell Trust and the Food Foundation. The Food Foundation’s Too Poor to Eat paper appears to be based on a UN document trying to develop a “food insecurity experience scale”. As far as I can gather, the UN research was based on telephoning 1,000 people in the UK in 2014.

I have never been asked for food vouchers (although I know other GPs have) and, in fact, I have never been handed any to give out. However, if I had been, and if someone had asked me for one, I would have given them one. Of course I would.

Then the food bank would have official authorisation by me that the patient should have non-perishable food, which is itself linked to poor nutrition and obesity. And that would give me absolutely no new information as to why (or whether) that person needed assistance.

Agencies are rightly tracking the rise in the number of people using food banks, but until they ask – really ask – for a bit more information from their clients (and the GP in me wants to weigh and measure them too) then we are no wiser at all.

People with a low income will continue to experience higher than expected obesity levels, and the food banks will continue acting as a sticking plaster, not shedding light on what the problem is, the size of the problem or how to fix it.

At the moment we are simply speculating, not taking action to help people at the root cause of poverty and food insecurity, and even obesity.

More political speculation. I’m tired of that. I want data.