Decline in the practice of family dinners coupled with an increased obsession of fast foods is the reason behind the high rates of obesity, according to a new study.
A newly published analysis found that 29 percent of poorly educated women in England and 27 percent of men are obese.
It gives England the fattest proportion of people in Europe from this background - more than twice as many as Italy, Portugal, Spain and Ireland.
According to experts, Britain's culture of fast food, poor diet and lack of family dinners, particularly among people on lower incomes, was to blame.
The report showed wide health inequalities across Europe and warned that these would increase due to the economic climate.
"Britain's obesity problem is well documented, but the worse off you are, the more likely you are to be obese," the Telegraph quoted Prof Peter Goldblatt from the Institute of Health Equity at University College London as saying.
"One in eight children entering school in the most deprived areas is obese, compared to one in 16 in the richest.
"The difference increases through secondary school into adulthood," Goldblatt said.
The study has been published in The Lancet.