Key Summary
- This includes £31bn in productivity losses, loss of quality and length of life (£71bn), and £12bn expense for the NHS
- Policy interventions have failed because they relied on individual behaviour change, and largely ignored the food environment
- The impact on the economy includes more people being unemployed and people being less productive
The cost of the UK’s epidemic of overweight and obesity has soared to £126bn a year, with two-thirds of people in the country living with excess weight, and more than a quarter with obesity, according to a study.
This includes £31bn a year in productivity losses, loss of quality and length of life (£71bn), and £12bn expense for the NHS.
These figures have been released by Frontier Economics for research commissioned by Nesta.
The study advocates that investing in the prevention of obesity will be a smart investment in the UK’s economic future.
It noted that obesity rates in the UK have doubled since 1990, and the government's policy interventions have failed because they relied on individual behaviour change and largely ignored the food environment that influences our eating habits.
The study said the prevention strategy must include reshaping the food environment to support healthier choices alongside wider action to address the root causes of ill health.
It welcomed the move by Keir Starmer government's recent announcement of a healthy food standard, "which will set targets for food businesses including supermarkets to improve the healthiness of the products they sell".
The study noted that while formulating policy for economic growth, investment in population health is often overlooked.
"Better population health would mean fewer people unemployed, fewer sick days taken, and an improvement in efficiency at work," it added.
It pointed out that the two largest contributors to excess weight-related productivity losses are more people being unemployed (£12.1bn) and people being less productive while at work (£9.7 billion). It noted that the latter is often overlooked, but has a major impact on productivity.
The other costs include people taking more sick days due to obesity-related illnesses (£8.3bn) and lost working years due to people dying earlier than expected (£700 million).
The report estimates that family and friends provide about £10bn worth of unpaid care each year to loved ones affected by obesity and excess weight.
The researchers pointed out that the rates of obesity are higher in poorer areas where salaries are on average lower, but the overall economic costs are more in poorer areas.
The study projected that obesity-related costs are likely to continue to rise over the next decade, and by 2035 it estimates that the annual costs of excess weight will reach £150bn (in 2025 prices), with productivity losses of £36bn.
