But a survey for the healthcare provider has now revealed that many obese people are not actually that funny. Researchers found many obese people refused to use a proper punch line when telling jokes and almost one in five did not appreciate the importance of timing when telling a joke. The survey of over 2,000 individuals, some of whom were very, very fat indeed, also revealed many obese people fail to recognise that they have a humour problem at all.

Professor McKay, an expert on obesity comedy said: ‘The increasing profile of larger celebrities, for example James Corden, Eamonn Holmes, Ruth Jones and Beth Ditto, means that fat people increasingly think that they are funny as well, even if they are just slightly overweight and actually quite boring.’

Although he does not think large celebrities have been in any sense responsible for perpetuating the stereotype that exists today, he says the increased numbers of fat people who think they are funny is alarming.

‘If fat people continue to turn a blind eye to their complete inability to tell a joke, they will see their life expectancy considerably shortened,’ he warned. ‘Probably by someone sitting in the audience.’ he added.

The Mr Men brand has been highly successful, with an estimated 100 million books having been sold in 22 countries, ever since Roger Hargreaves launched his first character ‘Mr Easy-to-Draw’. But the older characters such as Mr Happy and Mr Bump are no longer relevant to the modern child, claimed the publishers. ‘Little Ms Txt, for example, is a modern young woman who really speaks to children in a way that they understand; ungrammatically, and with very short words.’ Other titles in the new series include Mr Asbo, Little Miss Pregnant and Little Miss Mr, the first transgender character in the Mr Men series.

‘These little books are perfect for todays five year olds. They are small, they are light, they are incredibly easy to shoplift.’