NEARLY four in 10 Spanish adults are clinically overweight, with the highest numbers of obese people living in the far south and far north, according to research by the Spanish Cardiology Society (SEC).
Andalucía, Galicia and Asturias have more overweight residents than anywhere else in Spain, and the slimmest inhabitants are found in the Balearic Islands, Catalunya and the Basque Country.
The over-25s, up to State pension age are, in 39.3% of cases, considered medically overweight, with 21.6% of this age group – more than one in five – being clinically obese.
This rises to a quarter of the adult population in the three worst-affected regions.
Asturias has the most obese inhabitants: 41.1% are above the normal weight range for their age, sex and height, and 25.7% are dangerously fat.
But overweight residents in general are more likely to be seen in Galicia: a total of 43.5% of adults are too heavy, and 24.9% clinically obese.
In Andalucía, the totals are 38.9% and 24.4% respectively.
Balearic Islanders are overweight in 32.2% of cases, and just over one in 10 are obese – the lowest figures in the country.
Catalunya has more overweight inhabitants even than Andalucía and nearly as many as Asturias, at 39.8%, but fewer people who suffer from obesity, at 15.5%.
The Basque Country has the second-fewest number of overweight residents at 33.9%, and the third-fewest who are clinically obese, at 16.8%
Read more at thinkSPAIN.com