British women 'fattest in Europe'

British women have been named the most overweight in Europe.

Figures released by the European Commission showed that nearly a quarter (23.9 per cent) of women in the UK were obese in 2008/09, when the data was recorded.

The statistics showed British men are not far behind, with 22.1 per cent being classed as overweight, coming second only to Malta.

They found the share of overweight and obese people increases with age in all of the 19 member states that data was available for.

The figures also show the proportion of women who are obese or overweight falls as the educational level rises.

The high levels of obesity in the UK are in stark contrast to those in countries such as Romania, where just 8 per cent of women were classed as obese along with 7.6 per cent of men. PA