London ? Most British citizens could be obese by 2050, a new government report warns, and the nation’s health secretary called Wednesday for a fundamental shift in the way the nation tackles obesity.

Health Secretary Alan Johnson didn’t blame British eating habits, calling obesity “a consequence of abundance, convenience and underlying biology.”

The obesity analysis by the Foresight program, run by the Office for Science, concludes that excess weight has become the norm and described Britain as an “obesogenic” society.

The number of overweight and obese people has tripled in the last 25 years. One in four adults are now obese, according to the most recent Health Study for England.

By comparison, about one-third of adults in the United States are obese; two-thirds are overweight.

The Foresight report projects that by 2050, 60 percent of British men, 50 percent of women and a quarter of children and young people will be obese unless drastic action is taken.