If England's obesity rates were still the same as 1993 there would be seven million fewer adults living with obesity. There are 14 million adults classified as obese, despite successive governments launching 14 separate obesity strategies over the past three decades. It's clear something isn't working, so what's behind the increase?
According to new analysis by the King's Fund, in 1993 15% of those aged 16 and over in England were obese, with rates achieving a record high of 30% in 2024. Their analysis suggests obesity rates are rising fastest in 16-to-24 year-olds, with 18% classified as obese or severely obese in 2024 compared with just 6% in 1993. Accounting for population change, this means there are now one million young adults living with obesity in England - 700,000 more than if rates had not risen over the past three decades.
Dave Buck, senior fellow for public health at the King's Fund, called this rise "clearly worrying" and says governments have "talked the talk, but not sufficiently walked the walk" in addressing obesity rates. "This analysis shows the scale of the failure to take the necessary action on tackling this obesity timebomb," he added. There are several factors behind the rise in obesity, including changes in eating habits and food prices over the last 30 years.
Service industry - or "white collar" jobs - take a larger share of the economy and there has been a decline in traditional manufacturing and other "blue collar" work such as manual labour. This means more people are in sedentary office jobs so spend more time sitting down than moving around. Food prices have also fallen since the 1990s, partly because of increased competition between the major supermarkets alongside an increase in fast food outlets and home delivery.
Buck told the BBC that these changes mean it's "far easier to over-consume or consume in ways that add to our weight". "With things like deliveries, it's very easy and convenient now to click a button and you get a takeaway at your door, so we're making it much easier to have high fat, high salt and high sugar foods." Takeaways high in fats, salt and sugar are more widely available in areas of high deprivation where people are at higher risk of obesity. Less healthy foods in supermarkets are also cheaper than they were three decades ago, while there have been several cost-of-living crises in recent years.
Obesity can be a risk factor for several chronic conditions including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, osteoarthritis and some cancers. Reports estimate, external obesity and being overweight costs the UK economy approximately £126bn per year, including £12bn to the NHS - roughly 7% of its annual budget. Since 1992 - the year before data on obesity in England was first collected - 14 national obesity strategies have been published.
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