Crisis ... UK women have ballooned since 1980UK women are more likely than men to weigh over 30st, a study says.
The shock statistic emerged as our women were revealed to be the fattest in any major nation across western Europe.
The average British female has ballooned since 1980.
Experts have blamed ready meals, takeaways and driving instead of walking.
Average body mass index, a fat measurement based on height and weight, is 26.9.
This is classed as seriously overweight and well above women in Italy, France and Greece who have BMIs of around 24. Only tiny Malta (27) has a higher level in western Europe - while Turkish women (28.2) are the fattest in the entire continent.
Thirty years ago, average Miss Britain had a BMI of 24.2. The study found one in ten adults worldwide is obese, double the 1980 figure.
Britain's fattest woman Sharon Mevsimler weighed 45st at her peak in Chelmsford, Essex. She died aged 41 last year.
The world's fattest man, Paul Mason, 51, of Ipswich, was almost 70st until a gastric bypass op.
Study leader Prof Majid Ezzati, of London's Imperial College, said: "Doing less exercise and eating more is taking its toll."
US women top the western world's chart with a 28.3 BMI. UK men have an average of 27.4 - ninth heaviest in Europe and up from 24.7 in 1980.
The pioneering study will be published in medical journal The Lancet.
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UK women are more likely than men to weigh over 30st, a study says | The Sun |News
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