A former Tory health minister today criticized the government for failing to tackle Britain’s deepening obesity crisis.
Lord Bethell, who worked at the Department of Health and Social Care during the Covid pandemic, claimed ministers have “wasted considerable taxpayers’ money”, attacking the “non-conservative” approach.
He said policymakers should encourage Britons to live healthier lives, “rather than defend vested interests”.
His comments come on the heels of a groundbreaking study, which revealed today that the UK’s bulging waist is stripping billions of pounds each year from the cramped NHS.
Obese patients spend twice as much as healthy weight patients.
One million patients, who were at a healthy weight with a body mass index (BMI) of 18 to 25, would cost the NHS an average of £638 each in 2019, the study’s final year. By comparison, severely obese patients with a BMI of 40 and above cost more than double – £1,375 a year. Meanwhile, the NHS spent £979 a year on obese patients with a BMI of 30 to 35, which increased to £1,178 a year for those with a BMI of 35-40
According to the latest global data from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the UK’s adult obesity rate is 26.2 percent, while France’s is 17 percent. South Korea and Japan recorded 5.5 and 4.2 percent respectively
The findings expose the huge strain of obesity on the NHS’s finances, suggesting the service could gain up to £14bn annually if people maintained a healthy weight.
In response to the study on Twitter, Lord Bethell wrote: ‘Waste of significant tax and human resources is unconservative.
“Government should promote #HealthyBritain rather than defend vested interests.”
He added: “I have seen firsthand the dizzying price Britain is paying for our obesity problem during the pandemic: overcrowded emergency rooms, overcrowded intensive care units (ICUs), prolonged lockdowns, ongoing post-viral disease (#longcovid) and increased mortality rates. It’s time to act.’
Lord Bethell, who worked at the Department of Health and Social Care during the Covid pandemic, claimed ministers have ‘wasted significant taxpayers’ money’, attacking the ‘non-conservative’ approach
Lord Bethell added: ‘Dear @hmtreasury (The Treasury) and @jeremyhunt (Jeremy Hunt), please take a good look at this report.
“Is supporting a junk food cycle worth the cost to the taxpayer in terms of well-being, healthcare costs, lost productivity and damage to our international reputation for hard work?”
The government has currently postponed a ban on promoting buy-one-get-one-free deals on unhealthy snacks until October due to the cost-of-living crisis.
A ban on junk food television advertising before 9 p.m. and paid advertising online has also been postponed by 12 months until 2025.
Critics of the government’s delay in implementing an obesity strategy today echoed Lord Bethell’s comments.
Tam Fry, chair of the National Obesity Forum, said: ‘Unfortunately, the numbers calculated in this impressive study do not tell the whole story.
‘Over the past two decades, the NHS has had to spend millions on the infrastructure needed to support obesity treatment, from larger ambulances with reinforced chassis to super-sized beds, operating tables, mortuary fridges and stretchers to name a few.
“In all their years in power, conservative governments have done next to nothing to address the problem.”
He added: ‘The £6.1bn annual cost the NHS says it spends on treating obesity dwarfs the £58bn believed to be the total cost of obesity and its comorbidities .
‘A 2007 government forecast that half the UK would be obese by 2050 is very likely correct. Passivity is unforgivable.’
The cost per patient rises dramatically as more people weigh as they “accumulate obesity-related conditions” such as type 2 diabetes, cancer and heart disease, according to research involving nearly 2.5 million people presented at a conference in Dublin this week .
One million patients, who were at a healthy weight with a body mass index (BMI) of 18 to 25, would cost the NHS an average of £638 each in 2019, the study’s final year.
By comparison, severely obese patients with a BMI of 40 and above cost more than double – £1,375 a year.
Meanwhile, the NHS spent £979 a year on obese patients with a BMI of 30 to 35, which increased to £1,178 a year for those with a BMI of 35-40.
A total of 400,002 patients were classified as obese, with another million classified as overweight but not obese, with a BMI of 25 to 30.
Those who are overweight cost an average of £756 a year – 19 per cent more than those who are healthy.
Around two-thirds of over-16s in England (64 per cent) are now overweight, including tens of thousands who are morbidly obese. This is an 11 percent increase from 1993, when 53 percent were considered overweight. Experts blame sedentary lifestyles and unhealthy diets. Source: England 2021 Health Survey
Obesity and overweight rates have fallen this year after peaking during the Covid pandemic, but are still higher than before the lockdown
The latest NHS data shows that 26 per cent of adults in England are obese and a further 38 per cent are overweight but not obese.
The report suggests that at the peak of treatment, 28.1 million people with a high BMI could cost the NHS £23.8 billion a year, compared with £10.1 billion spent on people of a healthy weight.
An unhealthy weight increases the risk of serious and life-threatening conditions, such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, some cancers and stroke.
Rates have been rising for decades, with experts blaming sedentary lifestyles and unhealthy diets.
Obesity is also on the rise in children, with a quarter of children in shelter now considered overweight and one in ten obese.
The report also comes in the wake of comments made last month by former adviser to the Department of Food, Environment and Rural Affairs, Henry Dimbleby.
The founder of the ‘healthy’ fast food chain Leon called for bold action in the war on obesity and pushed for confidence in giving millions of Britons WeGovy and other appetite-suppressing drugs.
At an Institute for Government event, he claimed that Britain could not get out of the problem with drugs.
Instead, Mr Dimbleby, who was commissioned to conduct an independent review of the food system – the National Food Strategy – the last volume of which will be published in 2021, praised the “highly interventionist” approaches to obesity that Japan, France and South Korea have all taken it.
The fat-fighting policy introduced in Japan includes free school lunches for all, while at-risk adults are expected to attend diet classes.
Japanese law also requires companies to measure their employers’ waists and send those over a certain size on weight management courses, Mr Dimbleby told the event.
Speaking to TalkTV this morning, Steve Miller, the president of Fatnosis – a weight loss hypnosis company, said, “The government needs to be more gutsy.”
He added: ‘They should be more like the Japanese. They are terrified of it. They are sturdy.
“It’s your problem, you’re fat and basically, if you don’t take responsibility, you’re going to pay for part of your treatment, not the taxpayer.”