UK women are fattest in Europe

According to a report Britons are the fattest people in the Europe. 23% of women and 22% of men are so overweight that their health is at serious risk (from the Daily Mail). So it is official now that UK women are now the fattest in the Europe and men are also not too much behind. They are 22% just behind Malta which are 25.1%.

Experts say that unless the Government acts now, an entire generation faces an old age blighted by heart disease, cancer, diabetes and other diseases brought on by obesity.

And Dr Colin Waine, of the National Obesity Forum, said: 'The health risks are tremendous but the statistics are still going up exponentially.

'We need the Government to work with food manufacturers to produce a diet which is nutritious but less dense in sugar, salt and fat. 'We need to make motorised transport less necessary and make it easier for people to walk and bicycle to where they need to go.'

Breaking the data down by gender shows that British women are the fattest in Europe, with almost a quarter at least two to three stone over their ideal weight. German women have an obesity rate of 21.7 per cent and Maltese women 21.2 per cent. The thinnest women are in Italy, where fewer than 8 per cent are obese.

Measured by calculating Body Mass Index - a mathematical formula relating height to weight - people are classified as obese if they weigh a fifth more than their ideal maximum weight.

In Britain the figures have trebled in 20 years, with 10 per cent of six-year-olds and 17 per cent of 15-year-olds now obese. Adult obesity rates have nearly quadrupled over the last 25 years, making Britain the second-fattest nation in the developed world, trailing behind only America.

Being obese can take nine years off a person's lifespan and raise the risk of a host of health problems including diabetes, heart disease, stroke, infertility and depression.

Various cancers, including breast, colon, kidney and stomach cancer, are known to be linked to weight. A spokesman for the British Heart Foundation said: 'Being overweight or obese is a serious risk factor for heart disease and something we all need to work to sort out.

'The good thing is that there are lots of things people can do to make a difference such as combining healthy eating and activity.'

The Department of Health also plans to weigh children when they start school and send letters home if they are too fat. The average Briton eats just over three portions of fruit and vegetables a day - well under the recommended five portions a day - and will get through 22,000 ready-meals, sandwiches and sweet snacks in a lifetime - little short of one a day.