Urgent action is needed to tackle stark
inequalities in rates of obesity and obesity-related illness and
prevent the NHS from being overwhelmed, according to a new
briefing published today by The Kings Fund.
New analysis by the think tank highlights a
significant increase in obesity in the most deprived communities
in England in recent years, leading to a widening gap between the
richest and poorest parts of the country. People in the most
deprived areas are also more than twice as likely to be admitted
to hospital for obesity related health problems.
The key findings, which are drawn from a range
of sources including data published by NHS Digital, Public Health
England and the OECD, include:
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The majority of adults in England are now
overweight or obese. In 2019, 64 per cent of adults in England
were overweight, with 28 per cent being obese and 3 per cent
morbidly obese.
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The gap in obesity rates between women from
the most and least deprived areas is 17 percentage points, up
from 11 percentage points in 2014, whilst for men the
deprivation gap is 8 points, an increase from just 2 points in
2014.
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Childhood obesity rates follow a similar
pattern: for children in Year 6, the gap increased from 8.5 to
13.3 percentage points between 2006/7 and 2019/20.
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The gap in overweight and obesity rates
between children from the least and most affluent families in
the UK is larger than any EU country (26 points compared to the
EU average of 8 percentage points).
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Last year there were over 1 million hospital
admissions linked to obesity in England, an increase of 17 per
cent compared to 2018/19.Rates of obesity related hospital
admissions in the most deprived parts of the country are 2.4
times higher than in the least deprived areas.
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Rising rates of obesity translate to
increasing costs for the NHS. In 2014/15 the NHS spent 6.1
billion on treating obesity-related ill health, this is
forecast to rise to 9.7 billion per year by 2050.
Areas the with highest rates of obesity tend to
be clustered around urban areas in the north of England. These
differences in obesity rates translate to worse health outcomes
for people living in those areas and contribute to deepening
health inequalities across the country.
The briefing concludes that recent governments
have taken a fragmented approach to tackling obesity and while
some individual policies have been successful, they have fallen
short of the cross-cutting approach needed. Much more needs to be
done to improve the availability of affordable, healthy food for
people in deprived areas and support them to eat well and take
regular exercise.
It also argues that the NHS must do more to
tackle obesity and support people to make healthier choices. This
includes using local insights to target services at communities
with the greatest need, training the workforce to offer advice
about diet and nutrition,
and incentivising referrals to specialist diet
programmes and more intensive clinical interventions like
bariatric surgery.
, Chief
Executive of The King's Fund, said: "Our analysis lays
bare a deep and widening gap in the rates of obesity between the
richest and poorest parts of the country, with women in our most
deprived communities faring particularly poorly. Given the
serious health risks that come with obesity and the significant
cost to the NHS, this is exacerbating shocking inequalities in
health and will only add extra pressure on the NHS.
"People in deprived areas can face significant barriers to
accessing affordable, healthy food and taking regular exercise
and there is much more the NHS can do to support people to make
healthier choices and target services where they are needed most.
If levelling up is to mean anything, the new Secretary of State
must put tackling the obesity crisis and reducing health
inequalities at the top of his agenda."
ENDS
Notes to editors
-
Tackling obesity: The role of the NHS in a
whole-system approach is published today (Sunday 4 July)
by The Kings Fund.
The briefing is available to download
at: https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/publications/tackling-obesity-nhs
