Blackpool is England's 'unhealthiest area' new report claims

A new study by fitness experts BarBend analysed a recent release from the Office for National Statistics, which scored every local authority in England on a number of factors for physical health, mental health, fitness, and more compared to the national average (100) to see which areas were the ‘most unhealthy’. It found that Blackpool is England’s unhealthiest area with a 87.82 healthy people score; an 88.24 healthy lives score, and a 98.24 health places score which combined gives an overall health score of 91.43.

Each area’s health score is measured out of 100, with 100 being the level of the national average. For example, Blackpool scored 91.43 on its health score, meaning it scores around 91 per cent of the national average, or roughly nine percentage points lower.

Blackpool’s low healthy people score comes with a low life expectancy score of 75.72 and a low avoidable mortality score of 72.38. The area’s low healthy lives score comes from poor scores like 80.24 for alcohol misuse and a poor score of 83.58 for healthy eating.

Manchester came in second, with an overall score of 92.53. This is due to a healthy people score of 90.38, a healthy lives score of 91.24, and a healthy places score of 95.96. The healthy people score is low due to things like a low life expectancy score of 79.86 and low avoidable mortality with 74.54. A score of 91.24 for healthy lives is due to things like a poor child obesity score of 84.64 when compared to other areas.Hull was third, receiving an overall health score of 93.09. Birmingham was fourth due to an overall health score of 93.19, and rounding out the top five was Liverpool, with 93.49 on the overall health score.

Commenting on the findings, a spokesperson from Barbend said: “It’s interesting to see just how many factors go into the health index, and how poorly some areas score in them.

"When data for after the Covid-19 pandemic is prepared, it’s expected that many of these factors, particularly physical and mental health, will fluctuate due to the true unexpectedness of it.”