A city centre street in the heart of Edinburgh has been named as one of the UK’s unhealthiest High Streets.

The Royal Mile has landed at 16th on the list, with the tourist hotspot being singled out for being home to an astronomical number of unhealthy stores.

Chemist4U found that, on the Royal Mile, there are 123 stores that it classed as unhealthy. With 546 food-related stores in total in a 500-metre radius, this equates to 22.53 per cent being non-healthy, the Daily Record reports.

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Obesity experts at Chemist4U investigated which high streets are the unhealthiest by analysing the most populated cities to see where people are most likely to be affected. They noted the number of unhealthy stores and outlets within a 500-metre radius of each one, including fast food outlets and confectioneries.

According to the results, Buchanan Street in Glasgow is the most unhealthy high street in Scotland. The iconic city street also placed at number seven on the UK-wide list.

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The experts found that 28.37 per cent of stores in a 500-metre radius of Buchanan Street are “unhealthy”. According to Chemist4U, there are 99 stores with poor diet options and 349 food-related stores overall around the street.

Elsewhere, topping the overall list as the unhealthiest high street in the UK is St. Peter’s Street in Derby. Within a 500-metre radius, it was found that 46.1 per cent of stores were classified as “unhealthy”.

Head of Pharmacy at Chemist4U Jason Murphy commented: “It’s easy to fall into unhealthy eating habits when fast food and sugary snacks are so readily available on our high streets.

“While the occasional treat is fine, regularly relying on processed foods can have long-term effects on your weight, heart health, and energy levels.

“Small, sustainable changes, such as swapping fizzy drinks for water or choosing grilled options over fried, can make a real difference. If you’re unsure where to start, speak to your pharmacist.”

To put together their list, the experts narrowed down the results to focus on the most populated cities in the UK. They then counted the number of unhealthy points of interest such as fast food outlets, ice cream parlours, vending machines, confectioneries, bakeries, tortilla shops, and convenience stores.

To determine the percentage of unhealthy stores surrounding each high street, they calculated the ratio of unhealthy points of interest to total food-related points of interest. This percentage allowed Chemist4U to identify the high streets with the highest concentration of unhealthy establishments.

See below for the list of the UK’s 19 unhealthiest high streets. Additional information can be found on the Chemist4U website.

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The UK’s unhealthiest high streets

  1. St. Peter’s Street, Derby

  2. Hales Street, Coventry

  3. High Street, Southend-on-Sea

  4. New Street, Birmingham

  5. High Street, Newport

  6. Fishergate, Preston

  7. Buchanan Street, Glasgow

  8. Market Street, Manchester

  9. Albion Street, Leeds

  10. Fargate, Sheffield

  11. High Street West, Sunderland

  12. Oxford Street, Swansea

  13. High Street, Belfast

  14. Queen Street, Cardiff

  15. Bridlesmith Gate, Nottingham

  16. The Royal Mile, Edinburgh

  17. Church Street, Liverpool

  18. High Street, Leicester

  19. Oxford Street, London