One in three adults ‘obese by London Olympics’
One in three English adults will be obese by the time of the London Olympics, placing considerable strain on the NHS, latest projections have shown.
Researchers from University College London claimed 13 million adults in England will be classified as obese by 2012, as defined by their body mass index.
The Department of Health, which said 9,000 people die every year as a result of obesity to a cost of £7.4 billion to the economy, acknowledged that obesity is the “biggest health challenge” facing the NHS.
“And many people simply just don’t know that being overweight can lead to major health problems including heart disease and cancer,” a spokesperson told inthenews.co.uk.
“The UK is leading the world when it comes to facing up to the problem and tackling obesity. From this autumn we have been aiming to change the way we all live our lives.
“The Change4Life campaign will help us all to change the way we eat, the way we exercise and the way we raise our children so we can prevent obesity and related diseases.”
Researchers, publishing their findings in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, arrived at their findings by analysing trends in obesity between 1993 and 2004.
Analysis of the Health Survey for England, which included data on 128,000 households – including occupation and social class – found that half of those who will be obese in 2012 will be from low income and disadvantaged communities, “widening the health gap between the haves and have-nots even further”.
Between 1993 and 2004 the proportion of obese men in England doubled from 13.6 per cent to 24 per cent, while among women the proportion rose by 50 per cent to 24.4 per cent.
The statistics come as a seperate report by the NHS Information Centre show nearly one in four children aged four to five-years-old are overweight or obese.
