18% surge in number of hospital admissions due to obesity problems

A HEAVY BURDEN... HOW THE NHS IS TAKING THE STRAIN

HOSPITAL admissions due to obesity soared 18 per cent to 617,000 in 2017 with women making up two thirds of cases, shocking NHS figures revealed yesterday.

More than a quarter of adults in England are obese with two per cent of men and four per cent of women classed as “morbidly obese” meaning they have a body mass index (BMI) over 40.

Women from deprived areas were almost twice as likely to be obese as those from the richest parts of the country, according to the data released yesterday from watchdog NHS Digital.

The number of hospital admissions where obesity was listed as a factor increased significantly.

There were 617,000 admissions to English NHS hospitals in 2016/17 where obesity was recorded as either a primary or secondary diagnosis – an 18 per cent rise from 2015/16 when there were 525,000 admissions.

Of those, two in every three patients (66 per cent) were female.

The report showed that across England hospital admissions attributable to obesity alone – rather than it contributing to the admission – rose 8 per cent between 2015/16 and 2016/17.

There were 10,705 admissions where obesity was recorded as the main cause of admission, an increase on 9,929 admissions the previous year. Almost three in every four patients (72 per cent) were female.

According to the report there were 6,700 bariatric surgical procedures – operations including stomach stapling, gastric bypasses and gastric bands – and 77 per cent were carried out on women.

The figures also provided data on physical activity levels and diet.

According to NHS Digital, a third of men and 42 per cent of women did not meet the recommended weekly activity levels in 2016.

And 21 per cent of men and a quarter of women were classed as “inactive”. Meanwhile, only around a quarter of adults – 24 per cent of men and 28 per cent of women – ate the recommended five portions of fruit and vegetables a day in 2016.

However, the report showed the proportion of children meeting government activity guidelines rose from 21 per cent in 2012 to 23 per cent in 2015 for boys, and from 16 per cent in 2012 to 20 per cent in 2015 for girls. Tam Fry, of the National Obesity Forum, said: “The figures highlight the horrendous obesity problem we have in this country which will continue to rise until the Government puts in a proper strategy to combat the crisis.

“We have to do something about the high volume of fat, salt and sugar in our food and have a 9pm watershed on TV advertising of unhealthy foods to stop children being targeted. And labelling should be made mandatory so we know what we are eating.

“At the moment the labelling of food is governed by the European Union but after Brexit we can bring in our own regulations.

“The Government should have people working on that right now.”