Beyond America, Hugo Chávez has identified a new threat to Venezuela’s socialist revolution: obesity.

Chavez has sounded the alarm about his compatriots’ expanding waistlines and called on them to stop eating so damned much and to conserve food joining him in the battle against the bulge. Saying that this revolution needed them fit and strong.

“There are lots of fat people,” he said in a televised speech, and they needed to diet and exercise. “Doing sit-ups. Eating well. One has to learn how to eat.”

Chávez’s intervention was prompted by a study which suggested that in the past two decades the average adult Venezuelan’s “excess” weight had ballooned from 6.3kg (14 lbs) to 14.5kgs (32lbs).

The same study said nutrition had improved, and the president said the revolution had ensured even the poor had three meals a day. “Now we are eating better but we need to be careful,” he said. “Watch out for the fat people!”

The 55-year-old said he has lost nearly 20kg with exercise and a better diet, though he remains noticeably chunkier than when he took office a decade ago.

Chávez recommended soy milk and rice pasta instead of spaghetti made from wheat, saying they fought ageing, and made him feel “ready to continue commanding the Bolívarian revolution”.

In televised speeches the president often blends tirades against the “yankee empire” with advice to his countrymen to read books, shun consumerism, save water with three-minute showers and save electricity by using a torch for nocturnal trips to the bathroom.

Battling obesity, however, may be a doomed fight. Venezuelans are fanatical about fattening dishes such as chicharrón (fried pork rinds) and like to fill arepas, a type of corn patty, with roast pork, beef and blocks of cheese. Meals are not complete without fizzy drinks, beer or rum and Coke.

Despite the government’s exhortations, Venezuela remains an Americanised society which treats baseball games as a cue for hotdogs and fries.

Fast-food restaurant chains do not encourage moderation. “No more diets!” proclaims a billboard advertising campaign in Caracas, tempting motorists with images of burgers, milkshakes and chocolate brownies.

Latin America used to suffer widespread malnutrition but rising incomes and changing lifestyles – especially a trend towards junk food – have produced an epidemic of western-style obesity.

Mexicans now drink more Coca-Cola products – 136 litres a head in 2007 – even than Americans. Type-two diabetes and other obesity-related diseases are straining health services.

In Venezuela, many of those who are in Chávez’s sights see no problem with their size. Men routinely lift T-shirts to ventilate big bellies and on the beach large women have no problem wearing G-strings.

One of Venezuela’s most famous beauty queens, Alicia Machado, almost lost her 1995 Miss Universe title for putting on weight. Donald Trump, the pageant organiser, called her an “eating machine”.

Chávez, who is facing legislative elections next year, was careful not to alienate women and referred to gordos, fat men, rather than gordas, the female equivalent. “I’m not saying fat women, because they never get fat.” He added coyly: “Women sometimes fill out.”

A historic oil boom has thickened Venezuelan wallets and torsos but the government’s record on food is mixed. Galloping inflation saw food prices jump almost 50% last year.

Government efforts to control the price of pork and other favourites have prompted farmer protests and collapse in agricultural production. Food imports rose to $7.5bn last year, a sixfold increase since Chávez took power.

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Pssst…hey Chavez, the guy below has a special word just for you:

On a final note, I wonder if his political enemies will be the first to be put on the new Chavez Diet.

LEX