UK women top of obesity league, and men are second – EU survey

Nearly a quarter (23.9%) of British women are obese, according to an EU study which found the proportion was the highest out of 19 countries surveyed.

The statistics also showed British men are not far behind, with 22.1% being classed as obese, coming second only to Malta. Weight problems are statistically measured using the body mass index (BMI) of adults, with obesity being defined as a BMI of over 30.

The research, which was based on data from 2008-2009, showed that the proportion of obese people in Europe's adult population varied between 8% and 23.9% for women, and between 7.6% 24.7% for men.     Read Full