Over half of adults in Redbridge are officially overweight or obese, new figures have revealed.

Public Health England (PHE) published new data today revealing that 55 per cent of Redbridge residents were considered overweight or obese, according to their Body Mass Index (BMI), between 2012 and 2013.

However the results, gathered from a Sport England survey, reveal that the figure is still below average for London (57 per cent) and England (64 per cent).

Excess weight can cause further health problems which costs the NHS over £5 billion every year, according to PHE.

Professor Kevin Fenton, director of health and wellbeing at PHE said: “Local authorities are ideally placed to develop co-ordinated action across their departments, services and partner organisations to tackle obesity in the local population.

“Many local authorities are already working hard to reduce obesity levels and this new data will help all local areas monitor their progress in tackling these longstanding problems.”

The Guardian is awaiting comment from the council and Redbridge CCG.