UK faces obesity epidemic

by JENNY HOPE, Daily Mail

England is lumbering towards an epidemic of obesity.

One in five people is classified as obese, a proportion which has tripled in 20 years.

An astonishing 58 per cent of the adult population is overweight or obese, a report reveals.

Compiled by the National Audit Office, it is the first official assessment of the human and economic cost of the national weight problem.

Obesity caused more than 30,000 premature deaths in 1998 and cost £2.6 billion in NHS bills and indirect losses to the economy.

At least 18 million sick days a year can be attributed to obesity, it says, and the increased risk of heart disease, diabetes, colon cancer and stroke reduces life expectancy by around nine years.

Without more coordinated action by Government departments and greater involvement by GPs, says the NAO, England will match the U.S. experience - where a quarter of the population is obese - by 2010.

There are curious regional variations. The West Midlands has the greatest proportion of obese people (22 per cent) and South Thames has the lowest (18).

Almost one in four women in the Trent health region is obese. 'The problem is increasing faster here than in most European countries,' said Sir John Bourn, head of the NAO.

Without action it could be costing the economy more than £3.5 billion by 2010, he said.

The report shows that more than half of women and about two-thirds of men are clinically overweight or obese, conditions measured in terms of body mass index (BMI), which is calculated by dividing your weight in kilograms by your height in metres squared.

The problem is mirrored among children. Recent studies show a doubling of children with weight problems and almost one in ten under-4s is obese.

A glance at the 20-year trend is striking. In 1980, 8 per cent of women and 6 per cent of men in England were obese.

By 1998 the figures were 21 per cent and 17 per cent, a total of 8million adults. A further 32 per cent of women and 46 per cent of men are classed as overweight.

Treating obesity and associated illnesses cost the NHS £500 million in consultations, drugs and other therapies, says the NAO.

The indirect cost, such as loss of output in the economy due to sickness or early death of workers, was put at £2.1 billion.

While the trend is apparent throughout Europe, England is containing it less well due to less active lifestyles and changes in eating habits.

The apparent reduction in calorie intake in recent years may be a false picture, says the report, as surveys do not include food eaten outside the home which is usually higher in fat.

At the same time, people are spending longer in front of computer and TV screens - watching 26 hours of TV a week in the mid-1990s compared with 13 hours in the 1960s.

Barely one in three people takes part in regular exercise and almost all youngsters between 7 and 18 are classified as 'inactive'.

But NHS facilities for treating obesity are 'patchy'. Only 13 per cent of health authorities have a plan in place to prevent or treat the condition.

Some GPs are criticised for promoting a culture that weight control is a lifestyle choice and not their problem.

James Robertson, a director at the NAO, said guidelines are needed to help GPs. They have a key role to play in tackling the problem, he said.