Tamworth has been crowned the fattest town in Australia, where almost two-thirds of adults are obese.
The NSW town has an astonishing 61.2 per cent obesity rate, compared to a 31.3 per cent rate nationally.
This is the equivalent to an average 5ft 8in man weighing an incredible 200lbs or more.
Nationally, more Australians are overweight or obese than ever before, according to data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Australian men are far more likely to be overweight than women – with 75 per cent now overweight compared to 60 per cent of females.
The number of people of a healthy weight had plummeted to just 31.7 per cent of people in 2017-18.
Meanwhile, the proportion of Australians who are obese has nearly doubled to a whopping 31.3 per cent, up from 18.7 per cent 15 years ago.
More than one third of Australians are overweight, and 31 per cent are obese.
Australia’s top ten fattest towns
Tamworth (pictured) has been named Australia’s fattest town, with 61.2 per cent of people obese – and 77 per cent of people doing ‘little to no exercise’
1) Tamworth West
The number of obese or overweight people is linked to their economic status, the data found, with those in poorer areas likely to suffer weight problems.
Australia’s fattest region, Tamworth West has a population of around 5,700 people – of which just 4.6 per cent have a bachelor’s degree or higher.
A relatively low level of education means the area’s average incomes is well below the national average at just $43,622 compared to $48,360.
Its unemployment rate is 11 per cent – far above the Australian average of just 6 per cent.
As well as being poorer than the average Australian town, residents also do very little exercise and suffer a poor diet.
Just 23 per cent of Tamworth West residents do some exercise, and only 39 per cent eat enough fruit and vegetables
In the north-east town, 77 per cent of people do ‘little to no exercise’, and 30 per cent smoke.
It also has higher crime rates than the rest of NSW, with 6,745 crimes per 100,000 people, compared to 5,324 across the state.
Bridgewater in Tasmania (pictured) is the nation’s second most obese town, with a 57 per cent obesity rate
2) Bridgewater, Tasmania
Next up is the Tasmanian town of Bridgewater – 19km from Hobart CBD – with a 57 per cent obesity rate.
Similarly, it also has an average income lower the national rate at just $45,950 and just 4.3 per cent of people have a bachelor’s degree.
Incredibly, 80 per cent of residents do little or no exercise, and the average age of death is just 66 years-old – compared to 82 nationally.
Around 34 per cent of people smoke.
Davoren Park in South Australia (pictured) weighed in third with a 55.5 per cent obesity rate
3) Davoren Park, South Australia
With a 55.5 per cent obesity rate, Davoren Park – a suburb north of Adelaide – comes in third place.
Eighty-one per cent of its residents do little or no exercise, and just 37 per cent eat enough fruit.
The average income is just $42,540 and the unemployment rate is 16 per cent – far above the national average of just 6 per cent.
Melton West in Victoria (pictured) was fourth on the list with a 53.9 per cent obesity rate
4) Melton West, Victoria
Sitting 40km west of Melbourne’s CBD, Melton West – like other obese towns – has a relatively low average income of just $45,460.
But its unemployment rate, at 7.4 per cent, is not much higher than the national average.
Mount Druitt, 38km west of Sydney’s CBD, has the fifth highest obesity rate in all of Australia
5) Mount Druitt, New South Wales
With a 52.8 per cent obesity rate, Mount Druitt comes fifth in the country. It is 38km west of Sydney’s CBD.
More than 80 per cent of residents take no exercise at all, and the unemployment rate is 9.2 per cent – more than the national average.
It has suffered problems with crime and gangs, after a wave of shootings and violence, with crime spilling over from nearby Blacktown.
Elizabeth North/Smithfield, on the outskirts of Adelaide, has unemployment rates and obesity levels far above the national average
6) Smithfield/Elizabeth North, South Australia
The area suffers a 52 per cent obesity rate, with an incredible 81.7 per cent of people doing little or no exercise.
On the northern outskirts of Adelaide, the area has an average income of just $40,000 – $8,000 less than the national average.
It also has an astonishing unemployment rate of 20 per cent.
The Hunter Valley town of Kurri Kurri (pictured) has the seventh highest obesity rate in Australia
7) Kurri Kurri, New South Wales
The small Hunter Valley town has an obesity rate of 51.9 per cent.
It has a relatively good average income of $46,679, but a higher than average unemployment rate of 9.5 per cent.
Just 24.3 per cent of people completed Year 12 at school, with 49.7 per cent instead opting for non-school qualifications.
Redbank Plains (pictured) Redbank is a suburb of the city of Ipswich in Queensland, 12km from its CBD
8) Redbank Plains, Queensland
The first Queensland area on the list, Redbank Plains has a 51.9 per cent obesity rate.
It is 12km from the Ipswich CBD and around 35km from the Brisbane CBD.
The area suffers incredibly low life expectancy of just 62 years-old, far below the national average of 82.
A total of 81 per cent of its residents do little to no exercise, and 12.5 per cent of people are unemployment – doubled the national average.
Melton (pictured) sits around 30km west of Melbourne’s CBD, and is the ninth worst area in the country for obesity
9) Melton/Rockbank, Victoria
Sitting around 30km west of Melbourne’s CBD, Melton and Rockbank has a 51.7 per cent obesity rate.
Its unemployment rate is 9 per cent and it has be known to suffer high crime rates.
Around 23 per cent of its adults smoke, and 75 per cent do little or no exercise.
The NSW town of Moree (pictured) has been known to suffer issues related to substance abuse, particularly meth
10) Moree, New South Wales
The northern NSW town of Moree is in tenth place with a 49.5 per cent obesity rate.
It is known to be a hotbed for crime and anti-social behavior, with police saying that it suffers problems with meth use.
Just 32.5 per cent of people complete Year 12, but its unemployment rate is only slightly above average at 7.6 per cent.
Wealth and obesity
Around 70 per cent of Australians living in areas of most disadvantage were overweight or obese, compared with 63 per cent in the least disadvantaged areas.
Experts said a greater number of parks and exercise areas, particularly in poverty-stricken towns, could help.
‘We have spent too long as a nation expecting individuals to be able to change their behaviour to reduce their weight,’ Professor Rosemary Calder, from the Mitchell Institute health think tank, said.
‘However, the evidence is very clear that this has little chance of success without a very strong focus on the environmental factors in the places where we live that contribute to poor nutrition and inactivity.’
Whether someone is a healthy weight, overweight or obese is determined by their Body Mass Index (BMI).
A BMI score is determined by respondents’ height and weight.
Australians living in regional or remote areas were more likely to be fat, with 72 per cent of them in this category compared with 65 per cent of city residents.
Wealthy area of Sydney, particularly the North Shore (pictured) enjoy low rates of obesity and high income levels
Meanwhile, affluent areas near cities – such as Killara on Sydney’s north shore – enjoy very low rates of obesity.
Killara and Pymble has a rate of just 13.6 per cent.
The area enjoys wages far above the national average at $59,100, with an unemployment rate of just 4.7 per cent.
30 per cent of people in the area have a bachelor’s degree, while 14 per cent went on to study for a postgraduate degree.