Norway’s newly appointed health minister has caused controversy by saying people should be allowed to eat, smoke and drink “as much as they want”.

Sylvi Listhaug also said smokers were made to feel like pariahs.

A populist politician with anti-immigration views, she was appointed as the new health minister on Friday, a year after being forced to quit over a security row.

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.