Oldham ranked as one of the healthiest places to live in the UK

New research has now revealed the UK’s unhealthiest places, but Oldham has ranked in the top ten healthiest. 

Whilst East Central London ranks at the top of the table along with Galashiels, West Central London, Newport and Glasgow to make up the top five.

Oldham was ranked at number 6.

The study, which is part of a wider campaign to find out how lazy the UK is, follows a recent announcement that McDonald’s plans to open a restaurant in Rutland, meaning it will now have a site in every UK county, and Greggs having just launched its 2,000th store.

By using location data from the six leading high street fast food chains, the study by bean bag retailer Great Bean Bags has revealed the number of restaurant venues, per capita, for all six brands across the UK to reveal a comprehensive list.

East Central London tops the list for total amount of fast food restaurants per capita whilst also having the most McDonald's, KFC and Domino’s Pizza restaurants available to each resident.

Closely behind in second overall was Galashiels in Scotland, which is the best place to live if you love your Greggs. While Pizza Hut is most readily available in Enfield and Burger King in West Central London.

Nutritional therapist, Claudia le Feuvre explained why even with a focus on health, fast food seems to be on the rise,

“The concept of “secondary gain” may have a part to play in this. We know takeaways aren’t healthy, but we perceive advantages that keep us trapped in the same cycle - in this case secondary gain might be the convenience, speed or appeasing someone else by getting a takeaway.

We even justify it through all kinds of self-talk like ‘it’s been a hard week’ and ‘I deserve a treat’ which can certainly play on our minds and have us heading into the takeaway without even realising it.

“Fast foods are often formulated to achieve the ‘bliss point’. This is the optimal blend of salt, sugar and fat which triggers the brain to produce feel-good endorphins and dopamine, a neurotransmitter that will keep us coming back for more.

The McDonald’s burger bun is classified as confectionary as it has such high sugar content. If it’s not the bliss point, it could be the ‘mouth feel’ that has you going back for more.

Food companies work hard to perfect the perfect crunch of a chip for example.”

Patrick Tonks, creative director at Great Bean Bags which conducted the research, adds,

“It’s crazy to see just how many of these leading high street eateries there are across the country. Following the news from McDonald’s, we wanted to see which places in the UK have the most restaurants per capita. 

“Birmingham is home to quite a lot of the restaurants, which is handy if you’re on the lookout for a Greggs, with 87 of them in total in the city. But whilst this research is a bit of fun, it still shows a massive demand for quick food, especially given McDonald’s and its recent plans.

It seems that the market is continuing to grow and that demand is still there - and we are firm believers in exercising some balance in life.”

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