Higher obesity levels linked to lower productivity in England, research shows

Hartlepool was one of the areas with the highest rates of dangerous overweight and had a GDP per head of below the England average. Photograph: David Dixon/Alamy

Areas in England with the most overweight and obese people also have the lowest rates of productivity, according to research showing “obesity is an economic as well as a health timebomb”.

Conversely, places with the highest gross domestic product (GDP) per head have much lower proportions of citizens who are dangerously overweight, the analysis shows.