Obesity 'increasing' throughout UK
Thursday, 28 Aug 2008 11:37
New figures show obesity may be increasing in the UK
A new map has been produced showing where the highest levels of obesity exits within the UK.
The map, produced by Dr Foster Research, shows that the obesity problem in the UK may be getting worse when compared to a similar map published two years ago.
The data, from GP practices across the UK, shows that in some parts of the country more than one in ten patients is obese.
Particular obese 'hotspots' include Bexley Care Trust in London, where 9.1 per cent of patients registered with a GP are obese. In Barking and Dagenham primary care trust the figure is 9.3 per cent and in Medway in Kent it's 9.4 per cent.
Surprisingly, the Shetland Islands has the highest proportion of obese people, with 15.5 per cent officially overweight.
Alex Young, senior project manager at Dr Foster Research, said: "We need to wait a few more years before we can say definitely that things are getting worse but there does seem to be a growing problem in some areas. We are seeing parts of the outlying regions being affected rather than just urban areas.
"In the outlying areas, health services are maybe less available. In a city, the services are better, such as local access to GPs. There's also a certain amount of social stigma attached to being obese, it may be that these obese people are not going to see their GP."
It is claimed that two-thirds of adults and a third of children are overweight or obese in the UK.