The true financial cost of obesity
Back to Topic
Click to Print
Useful Websites
Glossary Term Selection
GPs and surgeons yesterday launched a campaign to combat obesity, saying current strategies were not working.
Around 30,000 Britons die prematurely each year of obesity-related conditions, and many more cope day-to-day with conditions including heart disease, diabetes and osteoarthritis.
But attached to this appalling human cost is a financial one, and it’s snowballing. For every month of inaction now, the cost will multiply, to the point where – in ten years – it could double.
Today’s situation is grim enough. Almost a quarter of adults in England are obese (with a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or over). Around 800,000 are ‘morbidly obese’ – with a BMI of 40 or higher, the level at which life insurance companies may decline cover. In short, we are moving towards a situation where a million Britons’ lives are threatened daily. Again, a truly awful situation in human terms alone.
But what are the financial costs, and why should politicians act now?
An oft-quoted Foresight repor...
Want to see the rest of this article?
Would you like to see the rest of this article and all the other benefits that Issues Online can provide with?
- Useful related articles
- Video and multimedia references
- Statistical information and reference material
- Glossary of terms
- Key Facts and figures
- Related assignments
- Resource material and websites
