Lewisham obesity. Pic: Jelly Mark

Lewisham has become one of London’s most obese boroughs according to recent statistics publish by the Health and Social Care Information Centre.

The HSCIC released new data on Wednesday that found Lewisham had the third highest number of hospital admissions treating obesity in London, with 148 of the 184 admissions being female.

The borough came just behind Southwark with 191 and Lambeth with 190 hospital admissions.

A Lewisham council spokesperson said: “We are doing quite a lot to encourage residents to eat a more balanced diet and have a healthy lifestyle, which includes exercise.”

The Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust runs free supermarket shopping tours in the borough to help residents make better decisions when buying food, including healthy and cost effective advice on their nutrition from a qualified dietician.

Free NHS health checks are also available for people aged 40-74 in order to test for certain health conditions such as type 2 diabetes, a condition estimated to be 13 times more likely developed in an obese woman than in a non-obese woman.

The Lewisham council spokesperson continued: “From encouraging people to walk or cycle, to eating 5 A Day, we are also supporting a number of other campaigns.”

Information on campaigns promoting regular physical activity and help with weight management, such as Lewisham Lifestyle Hub for over 40s and Get Active, can be found on the council website.

The overall figures this year for hospital admissions diagnosing obesity among people of all ages is almost nine times as high as it was in 2002/03. Obesity levels for the whole of London have reached levels of around 9.2 per cent.

Last month ELL went onto the streets of New Cross to ask locals about Britain’s obesity crisis and what can be done to avoid it worsening.