Adults classed as overweight or obese in Lincolnshire is at its highest ever point
With 67.6% of adults in the county recorded as overweight or obese in 2020/21.
Figures by Public Health England show Lincolnshire is the 5th heaviest place to live in the UK.
This comes as the percentage of adults aged 18+, classified as overweight or obese, in 2020/21 is at nearly 70%.
Nuno Albuquerque, is the Consultant Treatment Lead at food addiction specialists the UK Addiction Treatment Group comments;
"The percentage of adults classified as overweight or obese in Lincolnshire is at its highest ever point and has been on an upwards trend since 2016, a trend that should in fact be going in the opposite direction.
"Not only this, but the pressure obesity levels here is putting on the local NHS hospitals is of real concern, with more admissions than ever before.
"Unfortunately, we do know that for some people, over-eating isn't a choice and they are in fact, suffering with a food addiction, an addiction every bit as real and devastating as an alcohol or drug addiction."
Lincolnshire has seen an upward trend in this percentage of adults classed as overweight or obese.
Here are the figures from the past 5 years:
% of adults age 18+ classified as overweight or obese
2015/16 - 66.2%
2016/17- 64.5%
2017/18- 65.5%
2018/19- 65.7%
2019/20- 66.3%
2020/21- 67.6%
Paul Norris is a Weight Management Practitioner at One You Lincolnshire, he says as a charity, they continue to strive to improve people's health in the area:
"I am aware that, Lincolnshire, for people classed as being overweight or obese is slightly higher than the national average.
"It can be sort of a number of factors affecting this, but we're talking tonnes of weight that's been lost since we've sort of been in service from July 2019, so we are, sort of, doing our part."
NHS data also suggests and increase over the years of obesity related hospital admissions. From 1,024 per 100,000 admissions in 2015/16, to 1,900 in the year 2019/20.
Below are all the years listed, of obesity related hospital admissions:
2015/16 - 1,024 per 100,000
2016/17- 1,128 per 100,000
2017/18- 1,217 per 100,000
2018/19- 1,567 per 100,000
2019/20- 1,900 per 100,000
This figure of 1,900 admissions per 100,000 is just above the national rate of 1,869.
Saltfleet's Diane Gill has struggled with her weight loss since her 20s, and now because of medical conditions, she details that it is difficult when people don't understand:
"It affects me both mentally and physically, because when I'm overweight, I feel as if people don't take me seriously, people don't look beyond what I look like, and feel as if people are looking at me, you know and thinking she must eat a lot and you know, things like that."
Diane added that with the help of One You Lincolnshire she is in a better and happier place with her weight.
The UK Addiction Treatment Group says:
"The advice we would give to anyone living in Lincolnshire and thinking they have an unhealthy relationship with food is to just ask for help."