Higher obesity levels linked to lower productivity in England, research shows

Areas in England with the most overweight and obese people also have the lowest rates of productivity, according to research showing “obesity is an economic as well as a health timebomb”.

Conversely, places with the highest gross domestic product (GDP) per head have much lower proportions of citizens who are dangerously overweight, the analysis shows.

A report by Richard Sloggett, who was a government special adviser on health in 2020-21, found that Slough in Berkshire had the highest individual GDP, at £63,598, and also one of the lowest rates of overweight and obesity, at 61.9%. About two-thirds of adults carry excess weight.

In contrast, GDP in South Tyneside is just £14,906 but almost two-thirds of the local population – 65.9% – are overweight or obese, Sloggett’s Future Health Research Centre found.

None of the 24 local council areas outside London with the highest rates of dangerous overweight had GDP per head that was higher than the £28,810 average figure. They include Hartlepool (£18,728), Sefton in Merseyside (£18,540) and Tameside in Greater Manchester (£18,197).

The average rate of overweight and obesity in the 10 places with the lowest GDP is 69.4%. Eight of those 10 are in the north of England, one in the West Midlands and just one – Torbay in Devon – anywhere south of that.

In contrast, the percentage of overweight people is much lower – 62.6% – in the 10 areas where personal productivity is highest. Five of those are in Berkshire, two in the Midlands, one each in Buckinghamshire and Gloucestershire and only one – Manchester – in the north.

“The research clearly highlights the link between obesity rates and economic activity levels across England”, said Sloggett.

“The most deprived parts of England have obesity rates 1.5 times higher than the least deprived areas. Hospital admissions related to obesity are three times higher in the most deprived areas than the least deprived.

“You cannot credibly talk about economic growth and ‘levelling up’ without a plan for tackling obesity.”

Obesity is estimated to cost the NHS £6bn a year and the UK economy £27bn a year through lost productivity. The disease can leave people unable to work, for example by causing sore joints.

GDP per head is just £24,214 in areas with the highest rates of excess weight outside the capital, whereas it is £33,979 where overweight is least prevalent.

The report is very critical of efforts by Rishi Sunak’s government and previous administrations to tackle expanding waistlines. “Our approach to obesity policy is not working”, it says.

In the report’s foreword, Lord Bethell, a health minister in 2020-21, writes that “obesity is no longer just a public health challenge, it is an economic challenge, too”. Successive governments’ initiatives have been “stymied, piecemeal and overly cautious” and the UK now needs to have “a turning point” in its battle against the disease, he adds.

Public health experts criticised the government last month after it decided to postpone until 2025 a promised 9pm watershed for television and online advertising of junk food.

Katharine Jenner, the director of the Obesity Health Alliance, said the “shocking” delay was “an attack on child health”. The British Medical Association accused ministers of not “addressing the crisis of ill-health afflicting our country”.

The report urges ministers to adopt a “dynamic” new long-term strategy involving new taxes on firms whose products damage people’s health, public awareness campaigns to warn people how obesity can affect them and for doctors’ training to focus much more on obesity.

The Treasury should ask the Office for Budget Responsibility to produce a detailed report looking at the impact of rising obesity on other illnesses, the welfare bill and people’s participation in the labour market and their productivity as well as health and social care spending.

Delaying the watershed ban and scrapping the promised white paper on health inequalities “show that government is not stepping up ti the challenge.

“Liz Truss abandoned public health based on her misguided libertarian ideology. It’s time for this administration to get back to the evidence and start to tackle the problem”, said Sloggett.

The Department of Health and Social Care said: “We recently announced £20m to trial new obesity treatments and technologies to help save the NHS billions, and remain committed to introducing restrictions banning adverts on TV for foods and drinks high in fat, salt, or sugar before 9pm, as well as paid-for adverts online.

“Regulations on out of home calorie labelling for food sold in large businesses including restaurants, cafes and takeaways came into force in April 2022, and the restrictions on the placement of promotions for HFSS foods in large retail settings came into force in October 2022.”