Interactive map reveals fattest areas of England, where almost 80% of people are overweight: Is YOUR city on the list?

The fattest areas of England, where almost 80 per cent of people are overweight, have been revealed.

In areas with the highest rates of overweight people, up to 34 percent of the population is considered clinically obese, sobering figures show.

It comes as the NHS struggles to cope with the intensifying crisis which is seeing thousands of hospital admissions every day for reasons linked to being overweight.

Diabetes, heart disease, respiratory problems, stroke and mental health problems are just some of the illnesses associated with being overweight.

The government has previously said that obesity alone costs the NHS £6.5 billion every year, with the condition being the second largest preventable cause of cancer.

A health expert told MailOnline that ‘drastic measures’ are needed to stop this increase and combat the effects it is having on our society.

The map below shows the percentage of obese and overweight people in England.

Speaking exclusively to MailOnline Professor Alex Miras, an obesity expert at Ulster University, explained why he thinks the crisis has gotten worse and what he thinks can be done about it.

County Durham takes the crown as Britain’s fattest region, with 77.7 per cent of its residents overweight and 34 per cent obese.

Close behind is the metropolitan borough of Wirral, near Merseyside, where the obesity rate is almost 36 per cent while 76.3 per cent are overweight.

Third place on the alarming list goes to the Cannock Chase district of Staffordshire, where more than 38.4 per cent of its 100,000 residents are obese and 76 per cent overweight.

Meanwhile, Wigan has the highest rate of people who are clinically obese as opposed to overweight, with 39.1 percent of its population being obese while 70.8 percent are overweight.

Obesity is classified as excessive fat accumulation that poses a health risk with a BMI above 30.

A BMI above 25 is considered overweight but not obese.

At the other end of the scale, the skinniest area is the famously affluent Kensington and Chelsea, where just 46 percent of people are overweight and just 13 percent are classed as obese.

Professor Miras explained how he believes “drastic measures” are needed to end the obesity crisis.

He believes deprivation is “the most important factor” in the equation, but education also plays a role.

He said: “It’s very multifactorial. People living in disadvantaged areas therefore work very long hours.

“They have very little time to take care of themselves. Very limited time to care for their children and family.

“They are likely to resort to cheaper foods and unfortunately these days cheaper foods tend to be less healthy foods.”

Professor Miras added: “Usually a lower level of education is associated with a lower socio-economic level and this means that people have simply not been informed about what to choose in terms of what to eat , what to avoid, what is healthy, what is not.

The professor stressed there would be no silver bullet to solve the problem, but suggested local authorities could consider limiting the number of takeaway restaurants in a given area.

He said: “If you want to improve and reverse the situation, then you need to take much more drastic action to reverse the deprivation.

“This could mean improving access to healthier food, reducing the number of takeaways in the area, increasing people’s physical activity and giving them more time to look after themselves.”

“So it’s not easy.”