Only The Third Sickest Place In The UK

Great news! According to leading market research companies CACI and TNS, Hackney is only the third sickest place to live in the country. Those cynics who thought we'd plumbed the bottom of life's cesspit had better think again. Tower Hamlets and Southwark are worse than we are. Mind you, Glasgow appears to be considerably healthier and the Rhondda is a veritable health spa compared with here.

This finding was the result of "HealthACORN" (Health - A Classification of Residential Neighbourhoods) analysis, using data from Britain's 1.9 million postcodes - each of which has been described using more than 125 demographic statistics with England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and taking into account 287 lifestyle variables. I didn't understand much of that, but it sounds pretty reliable stuff.

The analysis focuses on the areas across the UK that have the highest proportions of people classified as having 'future health problems', i.e. lifestyles and behaviour patterns indicating that they will be unhealthy in the future even if they do not have a high incidence of serious illness at present. In other words, people who are going to die young. The main factors are levels of smoking, levels of obesity, poor overall diet, low fruit and veg consumption, high consumption of fast food and fizzy drinks, size of family, incidence of single parenthood, unemployment rate and degree of accommodation in social housing. In Richmond & Twickenham, the 'future health problems' group amounts to 1.8% of the population. In Hackney it is 44.1%. But in Tower Hamlets it is 50.4% and in Southwark 45.7%.

So - that all sounded heavy. A bit like me, really. Wow! I think I'll slope out for a quick mocha and doughnut before I rush off home and take Augustus out to McDonald's.