It’s enough to put you off your burger and chips. Numerous reports over the past couple of weeks have concluded that the UK is getting fatter than ever, and the number of clinically obese people has reached an all-time high.

Now ‘fatism’ has pervaded the recruitment process, or so suggests a survey by health insurance firm Manson Warner Healthcare.

The report of UK businesses found that 28% were concerned about hiring obese candidates in case they had to take more time off work for weight-related illnesses.

Graeme Warner, managing director of Manson Warner Healthcare, said: “The findings of the survey highlight that UK employers may rule out perfectly good candidates on the grounds of perceived future health problems.”

UK ministers were forced to apologise last week after hugely exaggerating the number of people claiming incapacity benefits for being obese. The real figure was only 900, not the 900,000 the Department of Health had claimed.