Ebbw Vale in Wales is the (Image: Getty)
One town in the UK has been named the “fattest” in the country on a number of occasions. The town, located in Wales, sees some residents eating three takeaways per day. Most adults in the former steel town of Ebbw Vale in south Wales are classed as overweight or obese. Meanwhile, a whopping 73% of all restaurants in the Welsh valleys town are takeaways. Councillors have brought the issue to the public’s attention on a number of occasions and said that rules need to be brought in to help fix the issue.
In fact, officials want to ban signage on council-owned land advertising ultra-processed and high-fat, salt, and sugar foods. It comes as women in the town have the loses tlife expectancy in the country. Last year, Councillor Sonia Behr raised the motion with Blaenau Gwent Council, stating: “They [the signs] catch your attention and you think I’ll drive in and have some chips or whatever.” She said that signs advertising such food should be “restricted in size and brightness”.
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Locals realise the severity of the issue, it seems. In fact, they say the issues stem from more than just people’s eating habits.
One local man recently told The Sun: “Everyone is depressed. You can see it on people’s faces when you walk around. This is the heart of Blaenau Gwent and it should be a great place to live, but it isn’t. It’s one of the worst and it’s embarrassing.
“The town has gone to the dogs but it was thriving in the 1980s and 1990s when the pits were still open. I can see why it’s the worst for obesity because there are so many kebab shops and the town is providing people with that.”
He added: “If you want a cheap kebab, you can get it, but it’s not doing them any good. There are a hell of a lot of overweight people, and people with severe health problems, here.
“The council should be attracting better businesses, it should stop so many kebab shops opening, but all that they care about is getting their council tax and business rates.”
Locals have called out the sheer number of takeaways in the town (Image: Google Maps)
The town was humiliated last year when a Canadian YouTube creator posted a video about his visit there, describing what it’s like in Britain’s “fattest” town.
He said in the video: “Everybody here is so nice, like this entire town. It is probably because they are well fed. Like you don’t want to deal with angry people, right?”
Meanwhile, one woman told him: “Obesity is normalised and everybody here is obese. It is a lack of education and social normality and the environment you are living in.”
It is estimated that 64% of British adults are now overweight, which is measured by Body Mass Index (BMI).
Another resident of Ebbw Vale told The Sun: “It’s too easy to get bad food here. We have so many takeaways and people get fast food delivered to their home too.
“There’s one person in my street who can get two deliveries a day. I think they’re mainly ordering pizza, given the shape of the box. I’m classed as obese due to my Body Mass Index and I do my best to eat healthy food, but it’s difficult when I’m out.
“There’s one place called Boom that has Indian vegetarian options, but even they’ve started doing cheese toasties and chips because that is what people are asking for.”