Essential facts, stats and quotes relating to obesity

This page contains facts, stats and quotes that LPC members may find useful when writing business cases or developing resources to support the commissioning of a weight management service.

This page is ‘work in progress’ and will continue to be updated with new facts, stats and quotes.

Facts, stats and quotes on other topics can be accessed on the Essential facts, stats and quotes page.

Health Survey for England, 2015 (December 2016)

(January 2016)”]

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In 2015 over a quarter of adults (27% of men and women) were obese.

A further 41% of men and 31% of women were overweight.

The proportion of adults who are obese has been similar since 2010.

Obesity prevalence varied with household income in women but not in men: 39% of women in the 2nd lowest household income quintile were obese, compared with 17% of women in the highest income quintile.

Overall, 35% of men and 47% of women had very high waist measurements. This was more common in middle aged and older adults than it was among younger people.

Abdominal obesity (very high waist circumference) varied with household income in both men and women: 55% of women in the 2nd lowest income quintile had a very high waist circumference, compared with 37% of those in the highest income quintile.

Public Health England slide sets (March - August 2016)

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Children

Obesity

One in five children in Reception is overweight or obese (boys 22.6%, girls 21.2%).
One in three children in Year 6 is overweight or obese (boys 34.9%, girls 31.5%).

Physical activity

Around one in ten children aged 2-4 years meet the government recommendation for physical activity (boys 9%, girls 10%).
Around two in ten children aged 5-15 years meet the government recommendations for physical activity (boys 21%, girls 16%).
Around four in ten children aged 5-15 years are physically inactive (boys 39%, girls 45%).

Diet

Around one in ten boys (10.1%) eat five or more portions of fruit and vegetables a day.
Around one in thirteen girls (7.5%) eat five or more portions of fruit and vegetables a day.

Adults

Obesity

Almost 7 out of 10 men are overweight or obese (66.4%).
Almost 6 out of 10 women are overweight or obese (57.5%).

Physical activity

Two thirds of men meet national physical activity recommendations (67%).
Around half of women meet national physical activity recommendations (55%).

Diet

Around three in ten (30%) adults aged 19-64 years eat five or more portions of fruit and vegetables a day.
Around four in ten (41%) adults aged 65 years and over eat five or more portions of fruit and vegetables a day.

Tipping the scales: why preventing obesity makes economic sense (January 2016)

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In 2035, around 4 in 10 adults will be obese.

10 types of cancer could be caused by being overweight or obese: oesophagus, breast (after menopause), gallbladder, liver, pancreas, kidney, bowel, and womb. It may also cause aggressive prostate and ovarian cancer.

This report predicts that if trends of being overweight and obese continue:

Almost 3 in 4 adults will be overweight or obese by 2035.

Over the next 20 years, rising levels of obesity would lead to an additional 670,000 cases of cancer.

This level of obesity would lead to an additional £2.5 billion in NHS and social care costs in 2035.

Reducing being overweight and obese by 1% every year could:

Avoid 64,200 cases of cancer over the next 20 years.

Save £40 million in the annual cost of the NHS cancer care.

Avoid 7,300 cases of cancer annually from 2035.

Royal Society for Public Health, Introducing “activity equivalent” calorie labelling to tackle obesity (January 2016)

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Over two-thirds of adults in the UK are now overweight or obese and the trend is worsening, with 60% of men and 50% of women predicted to be obese by 2050.

Obesity can have serious health consequences including heart disease, cancer and diabetes, and poor diet is a leading causal factor.

Two-thirds of people do not know how many calories the average person needs to maintain a healthy weight.

Public Health England, Annual Report and Accounts 2014/15 (July 2015)

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1 in 10 five year olds are obese, rising to 1 in 5 by age eleven.
67% men and 57% women are overweight or obese.
An estimated 70,000 premature deaths in the UK could be avoided each year if diet matched nutritional guidelines.
In the UK in 2008, 61.1% of males were estimated to be physically inactive and 71.6% of females.