By Liam McInerney
A popular Canadian fitness influencer travelled to a town in Wales that was called 鈥楿K鈥檚 fattest town鈥 and delivered a surprise verdict. Ebbw Vale in south Wales earned the unwanted title because of the number of people who have health problems like obesity and the town’s high number of takeaways where 73% of restaurants are fast food outlets. YouTuber Will Tennyson, who is from Toronto, travelled all the way to the former steel town in the south Wales Valleys to investigate why people were struggling with their health . And what he found behind the ominous statistics disturbed him. Checking into his hotel, he said the receptionist remarked: 鈥淲e are known as the fattest town in Britain. There鈥檚 not an awful lot to be honest with you. There isn鈥檛 a great deal around here other than kebab shops and vape shops.鈥 And after reaching his room, he was greeted by fast food menus, and he said the number of options was 鈥渁bsolutely insane鈥. However, after a night鈥檚 rest, he explored the town, and said the smell of food struck him right away. He added: 鈥淭hey were not kidding about the kebab houses, they are actually everywhere. We probably passed 15 on the way here.鈥 He had breakfast in Frenchie鈥檚 cafe and ordered the 鈥楤ig Daddy鈥 that consisted of four sausages, two black puddings, beans, bacon, three hashbrowns, four eggs, tomatoes and six slices of bread. Will said that people in Ebbw Vale were incredibly warm and speaking to a cafe worker about whether it was hard to be healthy here, she replied: 鈥淭he wages are not very good. The prices of everything have gone up.鈥 He added: 鈥淓verybody here is so nice, like this entire town. It is probably because they are well fed. Like you don鈥檛 want to deal with angry people, right?” Adding that “everyone is happy” he then delivered his four-word verdict that it is a “great place to be”. But while chatting to other residents that day, the pressure from the economy became a theme, with one woman, who lost over nine stone in the last 12 months, telling him: “Obesity is normalised and everybody here is obese. It is a lack of education and social normality and the environment you are living in.鈥 Another young man said he had not been to the gym in two years because he keeps getting rejected for jobs because of his lack of experience. He said money was therefore tight and cheap meals were the most alluring option he had. Summarising his findings, Will told the camera: 鈥淎 lot of people here don鈥檛 have jobs. They are living off the state. The cheap food is absolutely crucial for them to survive. They can鈥檛 afford the healthier foods which is why there is only one green grocer in the entire town.鈥 With that in mind, Will visited the Fresh N Fruity green grocer, and noted that it was extremely quiet. He picked up a packet containing six duck eggs priced at 拢3.50, saying the nearby Greggs was selling a breakfast roll and hot drink for just 拢2.95. Reflecting, he said it was 鈥渉ard to argue with the convenience鈥 and said a butternut squash was more expensive than an entire pizza that was displayed on a poster for 拢1.50 on a window of a shop nearby. In that shop, Heron Foods, a store worker told Will the fruit and veg aisle was the least popular and that it was 鈥渞eally expensive鈥 to eat healthy. This has led to unwelcome headlines in recent years including some addresses getting takeaways delivered three times a day and people鈥檚 driveways being blocked by people queuing for the McDonald鈥檚. And the latter inspired Will to visit the local Maccies where customers can wait up to 30 minutes to get served. After entering, he said: 鈥淭he place is absolutely packed. I was walking the town and I was like, 鈥榃here is everybody?鈥 They are all here. This must be the unofficial town hall. Just a constant stream of cars and inside it is ridiculous.鈥 Later in the day Will entered a pizza shop where on Thursdays it is buy one get one free. While tucking into his fast food, he noted a shop across the road selling seriously cheap booze. He observed: 鈥淵ou are literally set up for failure everywhere you go here. Think about a recovering alcoholic working at a brewery. That is what it would be like. If you are trying to lose weight and you are surrounded鈥 I can鈥檛 imagine how hard it would be.鈥 Will, who lost a lot of weight in his younger years, said he was not sure whether it would have been possible living in Ebbw Vale. He added: 鈥淚t is really scary to think about and I feel really bad for people that are here. It is all they know and you only know what you know and they are brought up on the same habits as their parents and it is a generational trickle down effect.鈥 Despite acknowledging that people were unable to afford a gym because of low income, he did say that he did not once see anyone cycling or running on the street during his visit. However, his overall feeling was one of sympathy, and concluding his vlog, he said: 鈥24 hours in the UK鈥檚 most obese town was eye-opening. People here are kind of trapped. 鈥淭hey have limited choices to be healthy and breaking the norm is extremely difficult and when financial troubles are in the mix, it isn’t about health, it is purely about survival and putting food on the table.鈥 To watch Will’s visit to Ebbw Vale in full, you can do so here