Figures show just how many adults in Shropshire struggle with their weight

The figures from the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities have sparked calls for the government to make it easier, and cheaper to buy healthier food and drinks.

Also, the county's public health officials have revealed the efforts being taken to address obesity – and its impact on people's lives.

Liz Noakes, Telford and Wrekin Council’s Director of Public Health, has spoken of the authority's ambitions – and the importance of facilities like "affordable leisure centres, accessible outdoor gyms, encouraging active commuting and protecting our green spaces".

Meanwhile Shropshire Council's Assistant Director of Healthy Population, Paula Mawson, said the authority is looking to produce a brand-new 'healthier weight strategy'.

The data, which is broken down by local authority area, shows that two-thirds of adults in the Shropshire Council area were estimated as overweight or obese last year, with the figure standing at three-quarters in Telford & Wrekin.

For the Shropshire Council area an estimated 67.4 per cent of over 18 year olds were overweight or living with obesity in the year to November 2022.

That is up from 59.4 per cent in 2015-16 when the Sport England Active Lives survey began, which the data is based on.

In addition, an estimated 32 per cent of adults were obese – an increase from 18.6 per cent seven years prior.

For Telford & Wrekin the figures are actually higher, with 71.4 per cent of over 18s estimated to obese or overweight over the same period.

That number had risen from 66.6 per cent in 2015-16.

The number classed as obese was 32.4 per cent – up from 31.3 per cent, seven years before.

Katharine Jenner, the Obesity Health Alliance director, said: "These new figures cover a period during which the Government had a ‘oven ready’ obesity strategy that could have helped prevent the continued rise in obesity rates, yet failed to enact it, and now we are reaping the consequences.