Mental health is bigger than cancer and obesity as biggest health problem for Britons

A global survey has found that mental health is more important than cancer and obesity when it comes to health issues that most Britons are concerned about.

According to experts, the change in public perception reflects the sharp increase in mental health problems caused by the Covid pandemic, the cost of living crisis and male violence against women in recent years.

This trend is evident from a survey by Ipsos into what citizens in 31 countries worldwide think about health and the healthcare they receive.

When the survey began in 2018, the exact same percentage of British participants – 50% – named cancer, obesity and mental health problems as the biggest health issues facing the country.

But mental health has risen up the rankings and is now the illness that most people (54%) in England, Scotland and Wales say they are worried about.

By comparison, obesity was mentioned by just 36% in this year’s edition of the survey, while cancer was also mentioned by slightly fewer people than before (49%), despite record numbers being diagnosed.

Globally, there has been an even more dramatic increase in the priority people are giving to mental well-being. In 2018, 27% of people in the 31 countries said it was a pressing health problem. But now that number is 45% – more than any other disease.

However, over the same period, the percentage of people citing cancer has dropped noticeably worldwide – from 52% to 38% – while the number of people citing obesity has also dropped, from 33% to 26%.

Concern about cancer has declined despite a global increase in the number of people diagnosed with the disease, which is linked to an ageing population and lifestyle factors such as poor diet, smoking and alcohol consumption.

The trends represent a “fundamental shift in attitudes towards mental health compared to 2018. Perhaps the biggest long-term public health impact of the pandemic will be on mental health,” Ipsos said.

The picture the findings paint of a global population increasingly anxious about mental health issues is underlined by a rise in those who see stress as a major health problem. The proportion citing stress has risen from 12% to 17% in the UK, and from 25% to 31% globally.

“Here in the UK, we’re seeing a growing recognition of mental health as a major issue, with 54% of Britons now saying it’s a pressing health issue facing the country,” said Simon Atkinson, Chief Knowledge Officer at Ipsos. Globally, “the pandemic continues to cast a long shadow,” he added.

Ipsos interviewed 23,667 people in 31 countries, including the US, Malaysia and India, in July and August. This included a representative sample of 1,000 Britons.

Andy Bell, director of the thinktank Centre for Mental Health, said the increased concern about wellbeing was not a surprise as “the nation’s mental health has deteriorated over the past decade, with rising rates of mental illness and referrals to mental health services”.

In England, more than a million people are on an NHS mental health waiting list.

Women were much more likely to see mental health as a major concern, both in the UK and globally, Ipsos found. Globally, 51% of women mentioned it, but only 40% of men. Younger people also referred to it more often than older generations, who were more likely to mention cancer.

“Women have higher rates of mental health problems than men. Women are more likely to live in poverty than men, and male violence puts too many women at risk of mental health problems,” Bell added.

The sharp decline in cancer as a public priority worldwide is a surprise. But it may reflect confidence that survival is increasing for many forms of the disease and that new treatments are emerging, such as immunotherapy, surgical advances and more precise forms of radiotherapy.

Naser Turabi, Cancer Research UK’s director of evidence and implementation, said: “Thanks to decades of research into diagnosis and treatment, cancer survival in the UK has doubled over the past 50 years. But with cancer affecting almost one in two of us in our lifetime, it remains a defining health issue and a major concern for people in the UK.”