Two thirds of men, six in 10 women and almost one in three children are overweight or obese, NHS data revealed today.
The annual Health Survey for England found that 43 per cent of adults and 16 per cent of children had at least one longstanding medical condition.
The proportion of overweight or obese men remained unchanged from 2017 figures, at 67 per cent — but for women the proportion was down two percentage points to 60 per cent.
There was also a two-point year-on-year fall in the proportion of overweight children (28 per cent) and in those considered obese (15 per cent).
More than half of adults (56 per cent) were at an increased, high or very high risk of chronic disease because of their waist circumference and BMI, or body mass index.
A total of 27 per cent of adults reported that they had less than 30 minutes of moderate or vigorous physical activity per week, and were classified as “inactive”.
The number of children smoking and drinking has declined in recent years, as has asthma diagnoses, which fell from 20 per cent of under-15s in 2001/2 to 10 per cent last year.
A total of 94 per cent of boys and 96 per cent of girls reported very good or good health.
Researchers interviewed 8,178 adults and 2,072 children for the 2018 survey. Half had saliva and blood tests to authenticate the results.
