Do YOU live in Britain’s unhealthiest town? Map reveals where dozens of fast-food outlets are just a stone’s throw apart

A MAP has revealed Britain’s unhealthiest towns where stacks of fast-food joints fill up the high-street.

Boffins have worked out the unhealthy hotspots by calculating the areas with the most fast food outlets per 100,000 people.

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In first place is Camden with a staggering 417 fast food joints per 100,000 people[/caption]

The Office for Health Improvement & Disparities (OHID) have counted a range of junk foods including burgers, pizza, kebabs, chicken, Indian takeaways, Chinese takeaways, and fish & chips.

In first place is Camden with a staggering 417 fast food joints per 100,000 people.

This is a steep jump up from the 205 recorded in 2017 when the data was last revealed.

Camden high-street seems to offer a range of junk food joints as it takes the unhealthy hotspot crown but it is not alone.

A Camden Council spokesperson said: “Camden is a world-famous tourist hotspot and we know many visitors will grab food on the go either before or after gigs, theatre and night time events, or before they get their train home after a day out in London.

“We support our residents to access healthy food and to follow a balanced diet, and there’s lots of community food projects and food growing initiatives in Camden helping with this.”

London has a phenomenal amount of fast food places per person with the runner-up being home to 248 fast food outlets.

Westminster has claimed the silver and is followed by Blackpool, Southwark and Manchester.

Hackney is also home to a notable number of 166 per 100,000 people ensuring it ranks ninth in the league.

This is another rise from 2017 when the borough was noted at 58th place.

Katharine Jenner, director of Obesity Health Alliance (OHA), said big fast food companies were “eroding healthy eating opportunities”.

She told MyLondon: “The findings are infuriating – almost every local authority has seen the number of unhealthy food outlets per population either grow or remain largely unchanged in recent years.

“This is happening at a time when the food industry should be making healthy food more appealing and affordable, not actively working against it.

“Evidence-based measures incentivising companies to promote, advertise, and sell healthier food are supported by the public. We deserve better, and we can’t let the food industry continue to profit off our poor health. We can’t afford to wait any longer.”

Overall analysis suggests that fast food outlets in most deprived areas across the nation are double that in the least deprived.

More generally, this type of catering has increased to 116 from 98 per 100,000 in the previous data set released eight years ago.

Dr Jordan Beaumont, lecturer in food and nutrition at Sheffield Hallam University, told MyLondon: “The new OHID data shows a concerning increase in the presence of fast food in our food environment.

“We know that exposure to fast food outlets increases the likelihood of consuming fast foods – those most exposed to fast food outlets are around 50% more likely to consume fast foods – but the relationship is complex.

“What is of particularly concern is the prevalence and density of fast food outlets is closely linked with level of deprivation, where areas experiencing higher levels of poverty – such as Camden and Bury – often have a higher number of fast food outlets.”