£600m spent on obesity illnesses

TREATING conditions linked to obesity in Scotland costs £600million a year, a report has revealed.

Around two-thirds of the adult population – 65 per cent – were overweight or obese in 2016, up from 52 per cent in 1995.

The report by NHS Health Scotland said there needs to be a “large-scale systemic change” to tackle the problem.

The publication is the result of the organisation’s work with researchers ScotCen on the Scottish Social Attitudes Survey to find out what the public think about obesity.

The report found there was “good support” for measures involving taxation to address the issue, with the most support – 62 per cent – for placing a tax on sugary fizzy drinks.