Obesity map reveals extent of Britain's weight problem

Department of Health figures for 2007-8 show that the NHS local administrative PCTs spent a total of £4.2bn on treating the health effects of overweight and obesity. The NHS's current budget for 2008-9 is just under £100bn.

Beyond the cost to our nation's health, obesity has a wider social and economic impact: absence from work due to sickness reduces productivity. The 2007 Foresight Report estimated that obesity already costs the wider economy in the region of £16bn, and that this will rise to £50bn per year by 2050, if nothing is done to combat the epidemic.

Dr Foster has compiled the prevalence rates of obesity from 2006-7 for the different regions of Britain. Find out how your local health region performs by selecting a Strategic Health Authority from the map on the right.

East Midlands Strategic Health Authority
Name Obesity Unadjusted Prevalence Quintile
Leicester City PCT 6.8% 2
Nottingham City PCT 6.9% 2
Leicestershire County And Rutland PCT 7.4% 3
Derby City PCT 7.5% 3
Northamptonshire Teaching PCT 7.7% 3
Derbyshire County PCT 8.1% 4
Bassetlaw PCT 8.7% 4
Nottinghamshire County Teaching PCT 8.7% 4
Lincolnshire Teaching PCT 8.9% 4
East Of England Strategic Health Authority
Name Obesity Unadjusted Prevalence Quintile
West Hertfordshire PCT 6.1% 1
East And North Hertfordshire PCT 6.4% 1
Mid Essex PCT 6.6% 1
West Essex PCT 6.7% 1
Suffolk PCT 7.1% 2
South East Essex PCT 7.1% 2
Cambridgeshire PCT 7.2% 2
North East Essex PCT 7.3% 2
Bedfordshire PCT 7.3% 2
Luton PCT 7.5% 3
South West Essex PCT 7.9% 3
Norfolk PCT 8.0% 3
Peterborough PCT 8.2% 4
Great Yarmouth And Waveney PCT 8.7% 4
London Strategic Health Authority
Name Obesity Unadjusted Prevalence Quintile
Camden PCT 3.9% 1
Richmond And Twickenham PCT 4.1% 1
Kensington And Chelsea PCT 4.7% 1
Wandsworth PCT 4.7% 1
Westminster PCT 4.8% 1
Hammersmith And Fulham PCT 4.8% 1
Kingston PCT 5.3% 1
Lambeth PCT 5.6% 1
Tower Hamlets PCT 5.6% 1
Barnet PCT 5.9% 1
Islington PCT 6.0% 1
Bromley PCT 6.1% 1
Sutton And Merton PCT 6.3% 1
Hounslow PCT 6.4% 1
Ealing PCT 6.7% 1
Hillingdon PCT 6.7% 1
Lewisham PCT 6.7% 1
Brent Teaching PCT 6.8% 2
Croydon PCT 6.8% 2
Harrow PCT 6.8% 2
Southwark PCT 7.0% 2
Haringey Teaching PCT 7.0% 2
City And Hackney Teaching PCT 7.1% 2
Redbridge PCT 7.2% 2
Waltham Forest PCT 7.2% 2
Newham PCT 7.9% 3
Greenwich Teaching PCT 7.9% 3
Enfield PCT 8.1% 4
Havering PCT 8.3% 4
Bexley Care Trust 9.1% 5
Barking And Dagenham PCT 9.3% 5
North East Strategic Health Authority
Name Obesity Unadjusted Prevalence Quintile
Middlesbrough PCT 7.3% 2
Newcastle PCT 7.7% 3
North Tyneside PCT 7.8% 3
Darlington PCT 8.0% 3
Redcar And Cleveland PCT 8.4% 4
Stockton-on-Tees Teaching PCT 8.7% 4
Sunderland Teaching PCT 8.9% 4
Gateshead PCT 9.2% 5
Hartlepool PCT 9.3% 5
County Durham PCT 9.4% 5
South Tyneside PCT 9.7% 5
Northumberland Care Trust 9.9% 5
North West Strategic Health Authority
Name Obesity Unadjusted Prevalence Quintile
Trafford PCT 6.4% 1
Central And Eastern Cheshire PCT 6.6% 1
Manchester PCT 7.0% 2
Western Cheshire PCT 7.0% 2
Sefton PCT 7.3% 2
Liverpool PCT 7.3% 2
Oldham PCT 7.3% 2
Stockport PCT 7.4% 3
Warrington PCT 7.5% 3
Bury PCT 7.6% 3
Central Lancashire PCT 7.6% 3
Heywood, Middleton And Rochdale PCT 7.7% 3
Blackburn With Darwen PCT 7.8% 3
Bolton PCT 7.9% 3
Cumbria Teaching PCT 7.9% 3
North Lancashire Teaching PCT 8.0% 3
Ashton, Leigh And Wigan PCT 8.0% 3
East Lancashire Teaching PCT 8.1% 4
Tameside And Glossop PCT 8.2% 4
Wirral PCT 8.4% 4
Salford PCT 8.6% 4
Halton And St Helens PCT 9.7% 5
Knowsley PCT 9.9% 5
Blackpool PCT 9.9% 5
South Central Strategic Health Authority
Name Obesity Unadjusted Prevalence Quintile
Buckinghamshire PCT 5.9% 1
Oxfordshire PCT 6.3% 1
Berkshire East PCT 6.5% 1
Berkshire West PCT 6.6% 1
Hampshire PCT 6.8% 2
Southampton City PCT 6.8% 2
Portsmouth City Teaching PCT 7.6% 3
Milton Keynes PCT 7.6% 3
Isle Of Wight NHS PCT 9.6% 5
South East Coast Strategic Health Authority
Name Obesity Unadjusted Prevalence Quintile
Brighton And Hove City PCT 5.0% 1
Surrey PCT 5.3% 1
West Sussex PCT 6.2% 1
East Sussex Downs And Weald PCT 6.6% 1
West Kent PCT 7.2% 2
Eastern And Coastal Kent PCT 8.3% 4
Hastings And Rother PCT 8.7% 4
Medway PCT 9.4% 5
South West Strategic Health Authority
Name Obesity Unadjusted Prevalence Quintile
Bristol PCT 5.6% 1
Bath And North East Somerset PCT 5.7% 1
South Gloucestershire PCT 6.4% 1
North Somerset PCT 6.4% 1
Dorset PCT 6.7% 1
Wiltshire PCT 6.9% 2
Bournemouth and Poole Teaching PCT 6.9% 2
Somerset PCT 7.0% 2
Gloucestershire PCT 7.0% 2
Devon PCT 7.1% 2
Swindon PCT 7.8% 3
Torbay Care Trust 8.1% 4
Cornwall And Isles Of Scilly PCT 8.7% 4
Plymouth Teaching PCT 8.8% 4
West Midlands Strategic Health Authority
Name Obesity Unadjusted Prevalence Quintile
Coventry Teaching PCT 6.8% 2
Worcestershire PCT 7.2% 2
Shropshire County PCT 7.3% 2
Warwickshire PCT 7.5% 3
Herefordshire PCT 7.6% 3
South Birmingham PCT 7.8% 3
Solihull Care Trust 7.8% 3
Telford And Wrekin PCT 8.1% 4
North Staffordshire PCT 8.4% 4
South Staffordshire PCT 8.5% 4
Heart Of Birmingham Teaching PCT 8.5% 4
Birmingham East And North PCT 8.7% 4
Sandwell PCT 8.9% 4
Walsall Teaching PCT 9.3% 5
Dudley PCT 9.5% 5
Stoke On Trent PCT 10.0% 5
Wolverhampton City PCT 10.0% 5
Yorkshire And The Humber Strategic Health Authority
Name Obesity Unadjusted Prevalence Quintile
Sheffield PCT 6.7% 1
Leeds PCT 6.9% 2
Bradford and Airedale Teaching PCT 7.3% 2
Calderdale PCT 7.3% 2
North Yorkshire And York PCT 7.5% 3
Kirklees PCT 7.6% 3
Hull Teaching PCT 7.7% 3
East Riding Of Yorkshire PCT 8.1% 4
North East Lincolnshire PCT 9.0% 4
Rotherham PCT 9.2% 5
Wakefield District PCT 9.3% 5
Doncaster PCT 10.1% 5
North Lincolnshire PCT 10.7% 5
Barnsley PCT 10.8% 5
Scotland
Name Obesity Unadjusted Prevalence Quintile
Lothian 5.7% 1
Borders 6.6% 1
Greater Glasgow & Clyde 6.7% 1
Highland 6.7% 1
Ayrshire & Arran 6.7% 1
Forth Valley 7.3% 2
Fife 7.3% 2
Dumfries & Galloway 7.6% 3
Grampian 7.7% 3
Lanarkshire 7.9% 3
Tayside 8.1% 4
Western Isles 9.4% 5
Orkney 9.5% 5
Shetland 15.5% 5
Wales
Name Obesity Unadjusted Prevalence Quintile
Cardiff LHB 7.4% 3
Swansea LHB 8.0% 3
Ceredigion LHB 8.2% 4
Monmouthshire LHB 8.3% 4
Conwy LHB 8.4% 4
Vale of Glamorgan LHB 8.7% 4
Flintshire LHB 8.7% 4
Gwynedd LHB 9.0% 4
Bridgend LHB 9.5% 5
Pembrokeshire LHB 9.8% 5
Powys LHB 9.8% 5
Newport LHB 9.9% 5
Anglesey LHB 9.9% 5
Carmarthenshire LHB 10.0% 5
Denbighshire LHB 10.1% 5
Merthyr Tydfil LHB 10.6% 5
Wrexham LHB 10.8% 5
Caerphilly LHB 11.1% 5
Rhondda Cynon Taff LHB (Taff Ely & Rhondda) 11.1% 5
Neath Port Talbot LHB 11.9% 5
Blaenau Gwent LHB 12.5% 5
Torfaen LHB 13.9% 5