[admin]

As more adults in the UK become obese, in fact one third of the adult population within four years so to will the numbers of people who will suffer from potentially deadly diseases, including diabetes, heart disease and some forms of cancer, experts warn.

Nearly one in four adults within the UK are classed as obese, but this will rise further to 13 million adults in England - one in three - being classed as obese by 2012, scientists led by a team from University College London (UCL) estimate, based on current trends.

Almost half of them will come from low income or disadvantaged communities, the researchers warn.

Dr Paola Zaninotto, from the department of Epidemiology and Public Health at UCL, who led the study, warned that obesity is a "major public health problem which can lead to premature death because of its associations with serious chronic conditions such as Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and cancer".

She added: "There is an urgent need now to reverse this trend towards obesity and there are no signs, as yet, that it is reversing."

The researchers estimate that obesity costs the British economy between £6.6 billion and £7.4 billion every year.

In 1993 just 14 per cent of men and 17 per cent of women were obese, the study, published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, shows.

By 2000, that figure had crept up to almost 20 per cent for both sexes.

The researchers made their estimations based on annual data collected between 1993 and 2004 for the Health Survey for England, which looks at almost 128,000 adults across the country.

England's fattest areas
• Easington, County Durham
• Corby, Northamptonshire
• Knowsley, Merseyside
• Sedgefield, County Durham
• Sandwell, West Midlands
• South Tyneside
• Bolsover, Derbyshire
• Barnsley, South Yorkshire
• Sunderland
• Wansbeck, Northumberland

England's slimmest areas
• Kensington and Chelsea, London
• Westminster, London
• Camden, London
• Hammersmith and Fulham, London
• Wandsworth, London
• Richmond Upon Thames, London
• Islington, London
• Barnet, London
• Lambeth, London
• Elbridge, London

[milanna]

As a primary teacher I have seen far too many cases of obesity. I cant remember in my 5 years as a teacher not having at least 1 or more at risk children in my class.

It is shame that a lot of schools are restricted to 1 hour of PE a week. We simply have our hands tied at school due to constraints from other syllabus areas taking greater priority. One, one hour lesson is simply not enough to have an impact on children that are relatively inactive.

Children look at parents and adults that are influential in their lives for guidance. We need to point them in the right direction. If we can start at home and school than children will have a better understanding of a healthy lifestyle. For instance, we have introduced at school a fruit snack between morning roll call and morning tea. I have never seen so many children enjoy fruit in my life.

Little things are most often the most influential to children.

[invetibre]

You probably very clever? or cunning?

[MeganThomas]

Thinking about it, I live in one of those slim area's and it's actually true, what is it about the north of England that has been labeled the fattest area's? :S Strange