UK-Health report
People in England suffer from the highest obesity rates in Europe, according to official government data released used.

The Health Profile of England report also shows that there is still a significant north-south health divide in England in both terms of life expectancy and in smoking-related deaths.

Adult obesity rates in England averaged some 23 percent, more than double the rates in such countries as Switzerland, Norway, Italy, Austria, France, Denmark, Sweden and the Netherlands. The second highest rates were in the Slovak Republic and Greece.

The figures also show rates of over 24.5 percent among women in western England and among men in Yorkshire and Humberside in the north, while average rates drop below 21.5 percent in London and the southeast for both men and women.

The report comes two months after the Department of Health warned that 13 million people in England, more than 25 percent, would be obese by 2010 if nothing was done to tackle the problem.

Speaking on BBC’s Breakfast program, Prime Minister Tony Blair said that the government had to tackle public health issues, but added that it was difficult to balance and not become a `nanny state’ telling people how to live.

"But when it has an impact, as it does and will do over the long term, on the whole of the country and our ability to afford the healthcare system, it’s our job to put the facts before people," Blair said.

The report showed that life expectancy was increasing for all groups in society, but also revealed a clear north/south divide, with women in the north living on average one year less than those in the south.

Apart from London, there was also a clear gap between the number of people dying from lung cancer in the north to people in the south of England. The British capital was shown as an exception with similar rates to the north.