General Article The economics of obesity

Topic Selected: Obesity Book Volume: 436

Reducing obesity is not just good for our health, it’s good for the economy too.

By Lydia Leon

Rates of obesity have nearly doubled in recent decades. In 2019 over 28% of UK adults and a quarter of children in year 6 were obese. Food-related ill health, including high BMI, is second only to smoking as a contributor to poor health outcomes in the UK.

This is strongly shaped by the food-environment. Inequalities in food-related illnesses are stark and widening: in the most deprived areas in Eng...

Would you like to see the rest of this article and all the other benefits that Issues Online can provide with?

Sign up now for a no obligation FREE TRIAL and view the entire collection