The Blue Zones of the UK

Those who watched the Netflix series, ‘Secrets of the Blue Zones’, will be familiar with the term ‘Blue Zones’. The label is used to describe a region of the world where people live longer and healthier lives than average.

Some examples of Blue Zones include Okinawa in Japan, Sardinia in Italy, Nicoya in Costa Rica, Loma Linda in California, USA, and Ikaria in Greece.

According to Dan Buttener, the journalist and longevity expert who initially coined the term, people in Blue Zones have a number of lifestyle traits in common. These include;

• They have a diet made up of whole foods and plant-based ingredients
• They participate in daily sacred rituals to unwind and reduce stress
• They take part in regular exercise by moving naturally every day
• They use unconscious strategies to prevent overeating
• They prioritise their families and invest in close relationships

Whilst smoking, which is the biggest threat to our general health, is still prevalent in a number of Blue Zones, it is not a common behaviour. Since the initial Blue Zone areas were identified, Dan Buttener has been working to promote healthy lifestyles and create more Blue Zones across the world, by working to drive down smoking rates, as well as reduce healthcare costs and obesity rates.

It’s probably not surprising that none of the ‘official’ Blue Zone areas around the world are in the UK. In fact, many studies show that the population’s health is in decline. In 2023, hospital admissions due to obesity increased by 13% compared to the previous year in the UK and admissions due to smoking increased by 5% over the same period¹.

When it comes to diet, the number of people with diabetes is at an all-time high in the UK. It’s estimated 5.6 million people live with diabetes, this includes 4.4 million who have been diagnosed, and 1.4 million who are likely to have type 2 diabetes but are undiagnosed².

However, whilst there are no ‘official’ Blue Zones in the UK, we wanted to find out if there are any areas that have some synergy with the Blue Zone way of life, based on their lifestyle habits.

We spoke to 2,000 Brits across 17 major cities, and asked them about their smoking, drinking, exercise, diet and sleep habits, to find out where the ‘healthiest’ and ‘least healthy’ places are in the UK.

It’s worth noting that there are of course several other factors that create a healthy lifestyle, as well as smoking, drinking alcohol, exercise and diet. However, regular exercise, not smoking, drinking minimal alcohol and eating whole foods as opposed to UPFs, will all help to minimise the risk of diabetes, cancer, heart attacks and strokes, and many other life threatening conditions.

Our research found that Norwich is the city with the most synergy to the Blue Zone lifestyle, closely followed by Nottingham and Southampton.

The top Blue Zone cities in order are:

In Norwich, a quarter (24%) of people eat Ultra Processed Foods (UPFs) just once a week. Almost 20% of people surveyed in Norwich do not drink alcohol and if they do, two fifths (40%) have less than 3 drinks at a time whenever they do.

In Nottingham, almost half (47%) of people exercise 4-7 days a week, and over half have never smoked or vaped. In Southampton, almost 70% of people have never smoked or vaped, and 30% of people eat UPFs just 2-3 days a week.

The study found the ‘least healthy’ city in the UK is Liverpool, where one in ten (10%) of people surveyed said they do not exercise at all. When it comes to alcohol consumption, 22% of people said they have 5-6 drinks at a time, and a quarter of people drink 2-3 times a week.

Survey conducted by Selph in December 2024. 2,000 UK adults across 17 major cities were surveyed through Censuswide. Mean average figures were calculated for each ‘lifestyle habit’ (smoking, exercise, sleep, alcohol consumption and UPF consumption). Those with the highest mean average were allocated a lower score, except for exercise, in which case the highest mean average was allocated a higher score.