Women told by UK's top doctor to eat two fewer biscuits a day or risk cancer

A biscuit or two with your afternoon mug of tea is one of the most traditional of pairings.

However, women are being warned to cut back on sweet treats or risk cancer.

The UK’s chief medical officer (CMO) said females are consuming “two biscuits too much each day” and should lose weight.

Professor Dame Sally Davies revealed obesity will surpass smoking as the leading cause of cancer in women by 2043.

READ MORE: Belly fat more dangerous than leg fat for older women

“I do think we have to be honest about it and not pretend people aren’t overweight or obese,” she told Desert Island Discs on Radio 4 today.

“What makes this happen is, on average, women eat one or two biscuits too much each day.

“So we need people to think about [eating] a little less every day so that they’re stable — and [eating] a little less than that every day to steadily drop [their weight].”

Two McVitie’s milk chocolate digestive biscuits contain 166 calories, and the average woman should have 1,500 calories a day to lose a pound a week.

READ MORE: Drinking coffee could help you lose weight

Last year, official figures revealed 30 per cent of women in the UK are overweight and 27 per cent are obese.

Obesity levels across all genders have risen from 15 per cent to 26 per cent since 1993.

Davies also told the programme that she dislikes being called the UK’s “nanny-in-chief”.

She explained: “It’s suggesting that I’m wagging my finger when in fact I’m giving advice and people don’t have to take it.”

READ MORE: Obese woman sheds an impressive nine stone by walking 30,000 steps a day

The country’s top doctor also claimed the nickname was sexist, adding: “The first woman as CMO gets accused that she’s ‘nanny-in-chief’.

“Well, what are they going to say to [a] man? I bet they don’t say that.”

She is due to leave her post in October.

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