A worrying surge in people admitted to hospital due to obesity has been revealed.

New figures also show the levels of specialist weight loss surgery in Kirklees have also shot up, with three quarters of patients being women.

In Kirklees, the amount of patients ending up in hospital with obesity a primary or secondary diagnosis has increased by 19% in just one year.

A total of 1,571 people found themselves so overweight they had to be cared for in hospital in 2012/13, compared to 1,320 a year earlier.

In Calderdale the figures are even more shocking, with a rise of almost a third, from 880 to 1,123 patients.

Surgeons performed so called bariatric operations, such as fitting gastric bands, to 43 people in Kirklees in 2012/13, 32 of which were women, a 60% increase on the year before.

The Health and Social Care Information Centre has revealed it is the tenth year running that obesity admissions were much higher for women than men.

National figures show there was almost triple the amount of female patients (8,740) compared to male (2,990).

Dr Steve Ollerton, Chair of NHS Greater Huddersfield Clinical Commissioning Group and Skelmanthorpe GP, said: “Obesity is a significant health risk because being overweight is often associated with other long-term conditions like diabetes, cancer and cardiovascular disease.

“We know people are gaining weight and taking less exercise which is likely to create problems for the future, so we take this into account in our longer term service planning.”

Tony Cooke, Head of Health Improvement for Kirklees Council said: “The latest government figures show that 61% of adults in Kirklees have an unhealthy weight. Whilst this figure is lower than surrounding local authorities there is a lot of work still to do.

“We are prioritising our work around food and nutrition with programmes which mean that no matter where they live, people in Kirklees can access healthy, affordable, sustainable and local food.

“This coupled with projects to help people make informed choices about the type and amount of food they eat and encouraging them to take part in regular physical activity will help tackle the issues around obesity locally.”

Calderdale Council’s Director of Public Health, Paul Butcher, said: “We know there is a national problem with obesity and unfortunately in this Calderdale is no exception.

“The harmful long-term effects of being overweight include an increased risk of developing type two diabetes, heart disease and some cancers, which are devastating both for the person and his or her family.”

Kirklees Council has a wide range of free leisure activities and advice. Visit www.healthyweight4kirklees.nhs.uk

Calderdale Council is currently offering free vouchers for its sports centres and advice about weight loss. Text C4L to 81025, or call 01422 281529.

Click here to take you back to more Huddersfield news.

Want to read, watch and hear more? You can download the FREE Examiner Apple App here, the FREE Examiner Android App here or you can view the paper as an e-edition on your Apple, Android or Kindle device by clicking here

To follow us on Twitter click here