Britain's legacy of obesity failure

Britain’s legacy of obesity failure: Ministers afraid to tackle health issue over fears of promoting ‘nanny-statism’ amid warning it is burdening NHS and costing the UK billions, report says

• Britain’s obesity rate will burden the NHS, hamper productivity and cost billions
• Sophie Metcalfe says the government needs a long-term strategy to deal with it 

Successive governments’ failure to tackle Britain’s rising obesity rates will lead to higher taxes, public spending and inequality, a report warns today.

Britain’s obesity rate doubled from 15 per cent in 1993 to 28 per cent in 2019, with ministers afraid to take action for fear of promoting ‘nanny-statism’, the Institute for Government (IfG) said.

Despite the state’s attempts to tackle this worrying increase, the UK now has the third highest rate of adult obesity in Europe.

Failing to take control of the problem will lead to further issues with workforce productivity, burdening the NHS and costing the UK billions, the report says.

Author Sophie Metcalfe added: ‘High obesity will lock the UK into a future of increasing ill health and the Government has no plan to tackle it.

‘It needs to build support for a long-term strategy which avoids telling people ‘what to eat’ but focuses instead on shared responsibility and a vision of healthier diets and more productive lives.’

The Government’s ‘squeamishness’ over tackling obesity will lead to higher taxes and lower productivity, a think tank has warned. The Institute for Government said every government since 1992 has missed targets to cut obesity, with an overall failure to prioritise the issue

Almost one in three adults in the UK is now classified as obese, with the condition heavily concentrated in the poorer areas of the country, according to the IfG.

READ MORE: Revealed: Nearly half of boys in England’s poorest areas are overweight or obese by the time they leave primary school 

In the UK’s most deprived areas, a third of primary school leavers are obese, compared with only 13 per cent in the least deprived regions.

Current estimates suggest obesity costs the UK between 1 to 2 per cent of GDP – or up to £58billion every year. As a direct consequence, obesity costs the NHS around £6.5billion annually.

And while governments have identified obesity as a priority to tackle since the early 1990s, each of the 14 strategies implemented have failed to make a breakthrough.

Strategies ‘overwhelmingly focused on individual responsibility’ such as food labelling and information campaigns have proved ‘relatively ineffective’, the report said.

Ministers are under constant pressure not to be seen supporting ‘nanny-statism’, while the cost of living crisis has made it more difficult for families to afford healthy meals. There has also been a reluctance to intervene in the food and drink industry.

The IfG called for a long-term obesity strategy inspired by the Government’s methods of reaching Net Zero, developed by a new policy unit jointly owned by the Environment and Health Departments.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: ‘Obesity costs the NHS around £6.5billion a year and is the second biggest cause of cancer.

‘We are taking firm action to help people live healthier lives including, introducing restrictions on where unhealthy food is placed in supermarkets, calorie labelling on menus, and we work closely with industry to make it easier for people to make healthy food choices.

‘Trials of new obesity treatments and technologies are being backed by £20million of government funding, and we will introduce restrictions banning adverts on TV for foods and drinks high in fat, salt, or sugar before 9pm, as well as paid-for adverts online.’

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