Areas of England most burdened by obesity revealed as stats show NHS hospitals are dealing with 3,000 fat-related admissions every day

New data shows the NHS is dealing with 3,000 obesity-related admissions every day, twice as many as six years ago.

NHS Digital data for England shows that in 2022/2023 there were a record 1.2 million hospital admissions where obesity was a factor, double the 617,000 in 2016/2017.

However, the figures also show that the severity of the crisis varies dramatically from country to country.

In Bracknell Forest, Berkshire, there were just 420 obesity-related admissions per 100,000 people – the lowest rate in the country.

At the other end of the scale, the health service in Luton, the worst affected area, dealt with as many as 4,880 admissions per 100,000 people.

After Luton, obesity levels in Gloucestershire (4,865), Southampton (4,781) and Salford (4,671) put the most pressure on the NHS.

Hospitals in parts of London – Newham (4,555), Tower Hamlets (4,256) and Waltham Forest (4,174) – were also crippled by Britain's bulging waistline.

Meanwhile, weight-related health problems, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease and stroke, had the smallest impact in Windsor and Maidenhead (456), Wokingham (549) and Slough (645).

Oxfordshire, Reading and Brighton also had rates below 1,000.

The 1.2 million figure includes almost 9,000 cases where obesity was the main reason for admissions, most of which were for bariatric surgery such as gastric bypasses.

In several hundred thousand admissions, obesity was attributed to a patient's stay in hospital or to complicating treatment.

Nearly 8,300 children under 16 were admitted to hospital due to obesity, more than double the 4,062 in 2016/17.

Those in poorer areas were twice as likely to be taken to hospital for obesity-related problems than those in wealthier areas. In the ten most deprived areas of England there were almost 3,400 admissions per 100,000 people due to obesity, more than double the 1,430 in the richest ten.

Liberal Democrats deputy leader and health spokeswoman Daisy Cooper said: 'The UK should be one of the healthiest countries in the world, but under this Conservative government things have gone from bad to worse.

'Our most disadvantaged communities are hardest hit by the obesity epidemic and are often unable to afford healthy food or access health advice.

'This Conservative government has reduced support for farmers and made healthy, home-grown food out of reach for far too many people. To make matters worse, people struggle to see a GP when they need to, meaning health problems worsen rather than being diagnosed and treated early.

'Ministers have squandered countless opportunities to make Britain a healthier place to live, choosing instead time and time again to brush it aside.'

Pregnant women are most likely to have obesity as a complicating factor, with 147,143 maternity admissions where obesity was a problem for mothers or children.

The new data comes after it emerged that Britain's obesity crisis is now costing the country almost £100 billion a year, according to a shock analysis that has led to calls for ministers to tackle the scourge of junk food with the same aggressiveness as smoking.

Two-thirds of all adults are now fat, compared to just half in the mid-1990s. Of these, a quarter are overweight.

Until now, the fully reversible problem was thought to cost Britain around £60 billion.

This figure included the cost of the knock-on effects of obesity and the impact on the NHS, as well as secondary costs such as lost income due to time off work due to illness and premature deaths.