HOSPITAL admissions for obesity are up 13 per cent in Bolton, the national increase is eight per cent.

Figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and NHS Digital show that in 2016/17, the most recent figures available, 61 people were admitted to Royal Bolton Hospital with a main diagnosis of obesity.

In the previous 12 months (2015/16), there were 54.

The council, clinical commissioning group and hospital trust said they were working together to reduce obesity in the borough and encourage people to adopt healthier lifestyles.

Nationally there has been a big jump in the number of people being admitted with diagnosis as a factor in their admission — where obesity is either the primary or secondary diagnosis.

This figure has risen 18 per cent and in 2016/17 there were 617,000 admissions where obesity was a factor.

Of these admission, 2,178 were to Royal Bolton Hospital, up from 2,172 the previous year.

There is a clear gender divide in the figures, both in Bolton and nationally women are more likely to be admitted for obesity or have obesity as a factor in their admission to hospital.

Of the 61 people admitted to Royal Bolton Hospital in 2016/17 with a primary diagnosis of obesity, 44 were women (77 per cent), nationally it is 72 per cent.

The number of men admitted has dropped in Bolton from 2015/16 to 2016/17, going from 21 to 17, a 19 per cent decrease. While the figure for women rose by a third, from 33 to 44.

The number of people receiving weightloss surgery in Bolton is also up year on year.

In 2015/16 26 people received bariatric surgery at Royal Bolton Hospital, up to 37 in 2016/17. A rise of 42 per cent.

Bariatric surgery encompasses a group of procedures and operations that can be performed to facilitate weight loss, although these procedures can also be performed for other conditions.

It includes stomach stapling, gastric bypasses, sleeve gastrectomy and gastric band maintenance.

The majority of people admitted to hospital for obesity were between the ages of 35 and 64, making up 69 per cent of national admissions.

ONS statistics also revealed how people perceived their own weight.

Of obese adults, 87 per cent and 50 per cent of overweight adults thought they were too heavy.

Overall, four per cent of adults said they were about the right weight, and the same proportion said they were too heavy. Four per cent said they were too light.

Women were more likely than men to say they were too heavy (50 per cent and 40 per cent respectively).

Bolton Council, the Clinical Commissioning Group and the hospital's Foundation Trust, issued a joint statement in response to the figures.

They said: "We are all working together to reduce levels of obesity in the borough and are looking at a number of ways to encourage people of all ages to adopt a healthier lifestyle, including eating more healthily and taking up some form of exercise.

"This in addition to giving up smoking and drinking only the recommended units of alcohol will all help to reduce long term, serious illnesses."