Traditionally the sick man of Britain, Glasgow has lost its title to parts of Wales and London, and now sits at 22nd in the survey of the top 50 areas of Britain facing a health meltdown this year.

Research by TNS and CACI, which studied data from 1.9 million British postcodes, predicts the NHS could be crippled by the effects of binge drinking, poor diet and lack of exercise, with heart disease, diabetes, obesity and other life-threatening conditions linked to a bad lifestyle.

Now Dundee East MSP Shona Robison, the SNP’s health spokeswoman, is calling for urgent action to tackle the problem.

“I am very concerned that Dundee has got the unenviable position as the highest city in this league table of poor health,” she said.

“Obviously the quality of life in Dundee for many people is very good, but there are still too many living in poverty and whose health is badly affected by that and by their poor lifestyles, much of which is associated with smoking and alcohol.

“Individuals have a responsibility to try to improve their health, but government also has a responsibility to create opportunities for people to get out of that poverty.

“It’s absolutely imperative we see the next generation of Dundonians have a much better opportunity for a longer life expectancy and better health.”

A spokesman for the research team said they studied factors such as diet, smoking and exercise to predict what’s in store over the next decade, as future illness is largely caused by lifestyle choice now.

“The NHS is already overburdened, but this is nothing compared to the time-bomb that is set to explode if people don’t make major changes to their current lifestyles,” the spokesman said.

“There is a group of people who are getting everything wrong when it comes to health. They smoke too much, drink too much, do little or no exercise and eat junk food.”