Today, national coverage has been given to a major Government study documenting 'health profiles' of the countries regions. This study has not only shown the continuance of a 'North - South Divide' in matters of health but also shows Boston, Lincolnshire as the sweating, lumbering 'fat man' of the country.

ITV inform us that; "Boston in Lincolnshire has the highest number of people with obesity in England", while the BBC go with; "Almost one in three of the population in Boston is clinically obese - making it, officially, the fattest place in England". In the same Government study, the UK is shown as the fattest country in Europe, therefore making Boston the fattest place in the fattest European nation.

This information is of no surprise to anyone that has ever shopped in the town's heaving supermarkets. Waddling giants fill the aisles, pushing themselves and huge overladen trolleys full of pre-packaged disease. THEY will tell you the problem is 'glandular' or 'big bones', but the BBC have other ideas: "They smoke, they don't eat healthily and the men can expect to die five years earlier than their counterparts in Saffron Walden."

The BBC makes a comparison with a similar rural town, Saffron Walden in North West Essex. Both towns are surrounded by healthy produce such as fruit and vegetables, but it seems only one takes advantage of its own output. Twin this with Boston's title of 'Laziest Town In England' and we have a fairly depressing outlook.

Boston is not the MOST deprived area in the UK, though certainly partakes in the culture of deprivation. Smoking is still 'cool' around Boston's council estates; baseball caps and cigarettes are the chosen attire for a kid around town. Watery beer and fatty kebabs are eagerly consumed in a parents night out, where the only exercise is a violent fight outside your chosen nightclub. As the BBC state: "It seems that how we live and how we die is cultural as much as economic".

Health minister Caroline Flint says; "we always pursue a route of least resistance. Parents are not always embracing healthy eating and active lifestyles as it is perceived to be too challenging". This is not good news for a town considered to be the 'Laziest Town In England' as surely anything 'challenging' will not be entered into. Healthy lifestyles need to be made 'easy' in order for the 'lazy' to change their culture of unhealthy consumption. Dr Ian Campbell, medical director of the charity Weight Concern, said: "we need to change the environment and make it easier for people to be healthy, with measures such as cutting the aggressive marketing of unhealthy foods and making it safer for people to cycle or walk"

In Boston it is easier to be fat and lazy than it is to be healthy. It is easier to get in the car than to get on a bike and risk being killed on the busy roads. It is easier to drive across town than it is to walk and avoid cyclists on pavements. It is easier to buy fatty convenience food, than it is to read labels or prepare fresh ingredients.

Unfortunately, we are just slaves to consumerism; it will always be easier to eat what is financially beneficial for producers to produce. Fat and chemicals are cheaper than reality, cheaper than real honest food with real nutrients and energy. It is cheaper to produce a mixture of sugar, citric acid and colourings than it is to squeeze an orange. To change the health of Boston, Lincolnshire it must be made harder and more challenging to become obese than it is today. The people of Boston cannot be 'bothered' to do anything difficult, so producers and supermarkets must make it more difficult for consumers to find and buy items that make people fat and lazy. Unfortunately this will never happen while easy profit can be made from the selling of saturated fat.

The full study can be downloaded HERE in PDF format.