The ten healthiest - and ten unhealthiest - places in the UK
Find out if your hometown has been named one of the places 'you're least likely to get healthy in'
Dudley and Walsall in the West Midlands have been placed first and second in a list of UK places that "you're least likely to get healthy in".
They're followed by Wakefield in West Yorkshire, while Wigan in Greater Manchester comes fourth in the survey by sports betting website SBO.
Researchers used a range of data for the list, including the number of gyms, sports clubs, parks, cycle routes, swimming pools and fast-food restaurants in a given area, and rated cities and towns using what it calls a "weighted index".
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The scoring system adds the figure in each category and divides the total by the number of cities, ranking 31 locations from worst to best.
As a result, it finds that Dudley, the capital of the Black Country, has just three gyms for every 100,000 people. Walsall, meanwhile, tops the chart for fast-food outlets, with 14 for every 100,000 residents.
Perhaps surprisingly, London is the fifth least-healthiest place to live. The capital boasts the highest number of public parks in the list but has the fewest number of sports clubs/shops per capita. It also scores poorly on swimming pools.
Bristol, a mere two-hour drive from Dudley, has been named the country's healthiest city. It's particularly well provided for in sports clubs/shops and in cycling routes - 234 per 100,000. Nottingham and Edinburgh rank come a close second and third.
Other cities with outstanding features include Manchester, which has the highest number of swimming pools per 100,000, and Kingston-upon-Hull, which tops the list for public parks.
Commenting on the findings, nutritionist Rhiannon Lambert told the Daily Mail: "Given the affordability of the widely available fast food chains found in these top cities, coupled with a lack of sports facilities, it's little wonder why residents are suffering from poor health."
Unhealthiest places:
Dudley
Walsall
Wakefield
Wigan
London
Wolverhampton
Rotherham
Bradford
Birmingham
LeedsHealthiest places:
Bristol
Nottingham
Edinburgh
Cardiff
Plymouth
Swansea
Kingston-upon-Hull
Belfast
Bolton
Derby
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Home Office worker accused of spiking mistress’s drink with abortion drug
Speed Read Darren Burke had failed to convince his girlfriend to terminate pregnancy
By The Week Staff Published
-
In hock to Moscow: exploring Germany’s woeful energy policy
Speed Read Don’t expect Berlin to wean itself off Russian gas any time soon
By The Week Staff Published
-
Were Covid restrictions dropped too soon?
Speed Read ‘Living with Covid’ is already proving problematic – just look at the travel chaos this week
By The Week Staff Last updated
-
Inclusive Britain: a new strategy for tackling racism in the UK
Speed Read Government has revealed action plan setting out 74 steps that ministers will take
By The Week Staff Published
-
Sandy Hook families vs. Remington: a small victory over the gunmakers
Speed Read Last week the families settled a lawsuit for $73m against the manufacturer
By The Week Staff Published
-
Farmers vs. walkers: the battle over ‘Britain’s green and pleasant land’
Speed Read Updated Countryside Code tells farmers: ‘be nice, say hello, share the space’
By The Week Staff Published
-
Motherhood: why are we putting it off?
Speed Read Stats show around 50% of women in England and Wales now don’t have children by 30
By The Week Staff Published
-
Anti-Semitism in America: a case of double standards?
Speed Read Officials were strikingly reluctant to link Texas synagogue attack to anti-Semitism
By The Week Staff Published