Norway's health minister says people should be allowed to eat, smoke and drink 'as much as they want'

Norway's newly appointed health minister has caused controversy after saying people should be allowed to eat, smoke and drink "as much as they want".

Sylvi Listhaug, who was also elected first vice-chair of the right-wing Progress Party, claims she does not want to take up the role of the 'moral police' and refuses to tell people 'how to live their lives'.

The 41-year-old, who admits to enjoying the odd cigarette, added smokers are made to 'hide away' when they should have 'the right to decide for themselves' whether or not they quit.

Critics say she has little understanding of what public health is.

"My starting point for this with public health is very simple. I do not plan to be the moral police, and will not tell people how to live their lives, but I intend to help people get information that forms the basis for making choices," she told Norwegian broadcaster NRK in an interview on Monday.

"People should be allowed to smoke, drink and eat as much red meat as much as they want. The authorities may like to inform, but people know pretty much what is healthy and what is not healthy, I think." 

Smokers were made to feel like pariahs, Ms Listhaug, herself a former smoker, added.

"I think many smokers feel like pariahs. So they almost feel they have to hide away, and I think that's stupid. Although smoking is not good, because it is harmful, adults have to decide for themselves what they do.

"The only thing we as governments are to do is to provide information so that people can make informed choices. That is why we should, among other things, [devise] a tobacco strategy now, which will help prevent young people from starting to smoke and often want to make more adults quit."

Ms Listhaug says she only smokes rarely now, mainly on social occasions.

Norway's Cancer Society's secretary general said Ms Listhaug's comments were potentially harmful to public health.

"Many will adhere to what she says. That is to say, public health [has been] set back many decades," Anne Lise Ryel told NRK.