Football fans told to shape up

Added on 07/09/10

Author: Alex Wilkinson - Reporter

The Department of Health has warned football fans to watch their weight.

The government body carried out a study of 27,000 supporters and found high proportions of obesity.

Most football fans recognise the chant “who ate all the pies?” This song may now take on a personal touch for Sunderland FC fans who are nearly more overweight that any other team’s supporters according to the DOH, with around 50% an unhealthy size. Even for the club with the healthiest supporters, Blackpool FC, 30% of fans were overweight.

Aside from weight issues, the DOH also examined how healthy clubs were in other aspects. Wigan Athletic had a high percentage of non-smokers as fans (85%) while Tottenham Hotspur were top of the league when it came to drinking the least. Meanwhile Blackburn Rovers fans smoked their way through the most cigarettes, and Fulham followers drank most heavily. Clubs where supporters drink heavily are also most likely to struggle with weight issues.

Weight world cup

The NHS has even organised a football fan weight league table, where clubs are ranked in relation to their supporter’s size. Countries are ranked too. While Spain may have won the World Cup earlier this year, it’s Slovenia who whose fans would win a weight watching world cup. Slovenia has the highest proportion of fans with a healthy weight at 67%, followed by the Netherlands at 62%. England came in 14th place with 58%. At the bottom of the league was New Zealand, at 47%.

To see where your team has ranked, you can use the NHS tool.

Last month The Sun reported that Stirling University in Scotland are organizing for free ‘fat camps’ at every ground in Scotland, in a bid to tackle obesity. Courses lasting 12 weeks are on offer to help people slim down. Sports Minister Shona Robison, who announced the scheme, said football was an “ideal catalyst” for raising people’s awareness.