“ Tackling obesity could really move the needle on both of these. He said: “Two of the biggest challenges for the UK economy is reducing demand on the health system, and increasing economic productivity. The study follows warnings from the Office for National Statistics that long-term sickness has hit a record 2.5 million, with one in 14 workers on such leave.īack and musculoskeletal problems linked to home-working, excess weight and insufficient exercise since the pandemic are among factors fuelling the trend.ĭr Pearson-Stuttard said tackling obesity was essential to boosting the UK’s economic prosperity. Not only is that impacting individual health, but also costs to the NHS and the economic workforce.” “The ill-health and costs associated with obesity compound over time. We know obesity can cause a range of hospitalisations including heart attacks, stroke, heart failure.
“By far the biggest cost to the NHS is hospital admissions. People collect more and more obesity-related conditions over time. “These costs are not just from living with obesity, but all the different conditions it results in – such as heart disease, stroke and back pain. “As weight increases through the BMI categories - from healthy to overweight to obese - costs increase and use of healthcare resources increase. He said: “This is a first-of-its-kind study, showing the costs of obesity across the whole health system.
The research was led by Dr Jonathan Pearson-Stuttard, a public health scientist based at Imperial College London and head of health analytics at the LCP consultancy. Latest NHS data show 26 per cent of adults in England are obese and a further 38 per cent are overweight but not obese, with similar figures in Scotland and Wales. Researchers said hospital admissions for such patients were “by far the biggest cost to the NHS” identified by the study, which also tracked spending on prescription drugs and GP and outpatients’ appointments. Most of the extra spending was not on obesity itself, but on treating conditions linked to the condition. Overweight patients with a BMI between 25 and 30 cost on average £756 per year, almost a fifth more than slimmer counterparts. Obese patients with a BMI of 30 to 35 cost the NHS £979 on average per year.Īcross the study, just one-third of participants had a healthy weight, in line with national statistics.
This was less than half the £1,375 a year spent on the most obese patients with a BMI over 40. The study found that patients who were a healthy weight, with a body mass index (BMI) between 18 and 25, cost the NHS an average of £638 each per year. NHS spending per patient dramatically increased with weight, as patients “collect obesity-related conditions over time” such as Type 2 diabetes, cancer and heart diseases. In the latest study, led by a scientist from Imperial College London, researchers tracked 2.8 million NHS patients for at least a decade to see how much treatment they received from the health service – and what it cost the taxpayer. Two in three adults in the UK are overweight or obese.
It comes amid pressure on the Government to tax junk foods, with the Institute for Government warning that “squeamishness” about such measures could mean voters face higher taxes.
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The findings suggest that the NHS could save nearly £14 billion a year if everyone was a healthy weight.Įxperts warned that the full costs of Britain’s weight problem are still greater, with long-term sickness keeping millions out of work and crippling the economy. The “first of its kind” study, presented at the European Congress on Obesity in Dublin, lays bare the costs of obesity to the taxpayer, as those who are not overweight only cost the health service an annual average of £638. Obese patients cost the NHS twice as much as those of healthy weight, landmark research has found – with an average of £1,375 a year spent on each of the heaviest patients.
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