We dwell in ‘Britain’s fattest city’ the place individuals eat THREE takeaways a day and the queue for McDonald’s blocks our driveways

It’s been called the ‘fattest town’ in the UK and if you walk down the high street of Ebbw Vale you can see why.

Four out of five people living in the former South Wales steel town are classed as either overweight or obese.

It’s 21 years since Britain’s five-a-day campaign was launched encouraging people to have at least five portions of fruit or vegetables.

But for some families in Ebbw Vale it’s three-a-day – three takeaways.

The town has just one traditional greengrocers, Fresh ‘N’ Fruity, and its elderly customer base was brought up on healthy greens, crisp apples and juicy oranges.

But people in the town under 50 have a much wider choice when it comes to filling up at breakfast, dinner and tea times.

The town centre has more than a dozen fast food takeaways offering the usual fare of burgers, fried chicken, kebabs – all served with chips.

Then there’s fish and chip shops, Indian takeaways and a Domino’s pizza, offering deliveries to the town’s 19,500 inhabitants.

Incredibly some delivery drivers claim they have driven three separate takeaways to the same household in a single day.

Jodie Hughes, 37, knows all about it – she ballooned to such a size she needed a gastric band.

The beautician said: ‘I agree it’s a problem here in Ebbw Vale, there are so many takeaways and fast food places feeding people’s appetites.

‘Trouble is, it’s addictive and it’s no wonder people are getting fatter and fatter.

‘I should know, I got very big with the easy availability of food, it got totally out of hand.

‘In the end I had a gastric band operation and since then I’ve lost 16 stone but I’ve still got more to go.

‘I had therapy to help get over overeating and feel I can overcome it now. I don’t use fast food anymore. I’ve realised how bad it is for me, I never want my weight to get out of hand again.’

Jodie blames the economy for turning Ebbw Vale into a town full of fatties saying it costs money to eat a healthy diet.

She said: ‘The trouble is everyone is overworked and underpaid so cheap fast food becomes very appealing, but it’s no good for you.

‘I’m not surprised Ebbw Vale has been named the UK’s Fattest Town, but isn’t it like all our other towns, full of these cheap fast food places.’

Jodie is one of hundreds of people who have signed up at the Aneurin Bevan University Health Board’s Weight Management Service.

Experts run online courses on Emotional Eating, Nutrition and one-to-one sessions on dietetics, and counselling.

Jodie added: ‘I was fortunate to get help from the Ebbw Vale Hospital weight clinic, run by Professor Nadim Haboubi – he’s been amazing.

Ebbw Vale businessman Scott, 55, said: ‘When I was at school, they taught us how to cook and even had sewing as well.

‘Nowadays it’s all about convenience of the takeaway. People haven’t been taught to look after themselves, they want everything handed to them on a plate… literally.

‘If you try to eat healthy with organic food and the like, you have to pay a lot for it, there is little encouragement to eat properly when convenience food is so cheap and easy to get hold of.’

Brontie Hannah, 17 who plans to join the navy, said: ‘I found I was allergic to fruit and vegetables and spent my time just going to McDonalds and getting Big Macs.

‘I was hooked on junk food but I knew I had to change and now I live on cereals and sandwiches.

‘I know social media has a bad name, but it was through social media that I realised how much damage I was doing to my body.

‘I didn’t do well at school, but now I have two jobs and am planning on joining the Navy.

‘My boyfriend is in the Army and I am determined to make something of myself. Working hard and eating as healthily as I can will help me.

‘Despite all the takeaways and fast food places there are here, I’m never going back to eating like that.’

Bryn Booth, 57, ex-warehouse worker said: ‘I had a terrible shock when I had a heart attack seven years ago and knew I had to do something about my diet.

‘But I wasn’t doing so well, getting exercise became difficult and then I collapsed on Father’s Day this year while I was visiting my father’s grave.

‘They managed to revive me but it was a terrible shock.

‘I must be the fattest man in Ebbw Vale now, I’m at least five stone overweight but fortunately the diabetic clinic has offered me a slimming jab, so I’m hopeful I can get down to a reasonable size.

‘Fast food outlets have a lot to answer for because they are making people very ill.

‘I live here near a McDonalds and there are often so many cars queuing up to get their burgers that I can’t get into my house.

‘It’s ridiculous. A place like Ebbw Vale used to be full of hard working people who might have lived simply but they eat healthy home cooked food and didn’t get big like now. It’s tragic really isn’t it?’

Angela Carpenter, 68, used to work in fish and chip shops and pizza takeaways in the town, said: ‘When I worked in a pizza takeout, people who lived behind the shop would order food to be delivered to them.

‘They were so lazy, they couldn’t even be bothered to come and collect their own food. ‘How crazy is that?

‘I was surprised how many people would order food to be delivered, even if they lived nearby. It was the same at the chippy I worked at.

‘Many people would come in almost every day and they would often spend a lot of money, I really don’t know how they found the cash.

‘The other thing I’ve noticed, when I got fish and chips for myself recently, there were two pieces of fish and lots of chips, I just couldn’t eat it all.

‘It cost me eleven pounds and yet I have to waste half of it. It’s madness.’

Prof Tracy Daszkiewicz, Director of Public Health for Gwent believes it’s ‘time to move the conversation away from weight and towards good health.’

She said: ‘We need to think about healthy weight in terms of our food system. As a Public Health team, we want to look at this to make a fundamental change. For this we need to consider the commercial determinants of health.

‘We want to influence the way unhealthy foods are advertised and promoted within our communities.’  

She added: ‘It is also important to support our communities to ensure they have the information and support they need to stay healthy. 

‘This why this year as a Health Board we carried out engagement activities across our communities to understand from our residents what they need to stay healthy.

‘This work is currently being analysed and will inform our 10 year strategy as a health board as we look to support our communities in ways that work for them to manage good health.’