![RAISE THE ALARM: More health professional have aired concern about Tamworth's negative health figures. Photo: Gareth Gardner 200219GGD10 RAISE THE ALARM: More health professional have aired concern about Tamworth's negative health figures. Photo: Gareth Gardner 200219GGD10](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/37sRjZccYfaNxXbGxARzun2/c58913d5-4ab7-401d-b3cc-6f910fda3382.jpg/r0_0_3000_1940_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
OVERWEIGHT, inactive, smoking and dying young: Tamworth's latest health data paints a fairly grim picture of the city.
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The new figures from the Australian Health Policy Collaboration pits Tamworth well above the national average in a number of categories.
It comes as little surprise to local health workers who have said the stats have plateaued in some instances and worsened in others.
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Once again, West Tamworth topped the list with 79.8 per cent of adults living in the area deemed overweight.
The area also listed the highest rate of obesity in Australia with 48.1 per cent of adults owning a body-mass index (BMI) higher than 30.
And adding to the list, West Tamworth also had the third highest rate of premature deaths from heart and lung diseases and cancers in NSW, behind Mount Druitt and far western NSW.
Smoking rates in West Tamworth were the second-highest in the state, behind Mount Druitt again.
The issues were likely compounded with more than three quarters of adults in the entire Tamworth Regional Council area getting insufficient physical exercise.
Hunter New England Central Coast primary health network executive manager Heather Alexander was concerned by the figures.
"It's not only alarming, it's concerning," Ms Alexander said.
"I guess the concerning thing is the stats are not going down, they're probably rising and the figures which are staying the same, the severity is rising."
She said there was simple measures which could lay the foundations for addressing the pervasive issues facing the the community.
It could be "practical stuff" like more walking and cycling paths and making existing walkways safer with lighting.
But Ms Alexander said coordinated improvements were needed too, including an increase to public transport options to ensure sport and recreation facilities are accessible for kids at appropriate hours.
She said education could be targeting children earlier and the healthy messaging should be conveyed to pre-school aged youngsters.