HOSPITAL admissions for obesity in North Yorkshire have risen by more than 30 per cent in the last year.

NHS Digital data reveals that between 2018-19 in North Yorkshire, there were 13,085 hospital admissions where obesity was the primary or secondary cause.

The figure is the equivalent of 2,034 in every 100,000 residents – an increase of 36 per cent from the previous year’s figure of 1,492 and 1,173 recorded in 2016.

But York Hospital recorded the lowest levels of admissions across the region.

Data also shows that women accounted for 7,885 - or 60 per cent - of North Yorkshire’s obesity-related hospital admissions in 2018-19.

Meanwhile, Yorkshire was the fourth-worst affected of the country’s nine NHS regions, with a rate of 1,719 obesity-related hospital admissions per 100,000 population.

The charity Diabetes UK said the Government needed to do more to prevent the problem by pursuing its commitment to slashing childhood obesity rates, while the NHS said the issue is putting “unnecessary strain” on its services.

Helen Kirrane, head of policy, campaigns and mobilisation at Diabetes UK, said the rise shows more people are getting the treatment needed.

A review into how obesity, alongside other factors including ethnicity and gender, affect a person’s vulnerability to the coronavirus has been announced by Public Health England (PHE).

PHE said the review will provide insight into emerging evidence the virus is having a disproportionate effect on different groups.

Last month, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said that the review was part of a continued effort to understand and ultimately reduce health inequalities across the country.

An NHS spokesperson said: “With a 20 per cent increase in hospital admissions over the last five years directly linked to obesity, it is clear that obesity is causing diseases including cancer, heart attacks, stroke and type two diabetes while putting unnecessary strain on NHS services.

“The NHS is playing its part through our long-term plan, but other industries must also step up and prevent the harm obesity is causing, particularly to young people.”