Truemors
The UK north south divide in economy and health still exists but this new 'fat map' of Britain seems to indicate that the south is now succumbing the obesity problem that has seen some areas of the UK having up to 15% of their population being obese. As the recession hits we might expect to see people getting thinner due to having less to spend on food but in reality it is the poorest who are generally the most obese and die youngest. To eat healthily can be more expensive than to eat unhealthily is the mantra that some use as a way of explaining this however it is probably ,ore to do with education and culture than simple economics. The truth is that the better educated you are the longer you live and education about food is the bottom of many school's agenda's despite periodic health drives. While ever it's cheaper to buy a fizzy soda from a local shop than a bottle of water from the school canteen where an apple or orange costs 60p or more then we can expect Britain's waistline to continue growing.
The UK's worst obesity hotspot is Shetland, where 15.54% of people are obese, according to Dr Foster Research, which produced the map, followed by five different Welsh primary care trust areas.
But while the north of England, which dominated the top of the table in a similar exercise two years ago, still has large proportions of obese people - Barnsley on 10.8% and Doncaster on 10.1%, for instance - the south is beginning to creep up.
In Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, 8.7% of people are obese, in Portsmouth 7.6%, in Devon 7.1% and in East Sussex 6.6%. While some central London primary care trusts, including Camden, Wandsworth and Kensington and Chelsea, are at the bottom of the table, with low obesity levels, some of those in outlying areas are at the top, with more than 9% obesity - Bexley care trust, Barking and Dagenham and Medway in Kent.
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