NHS hit by shock increase in obesity illnesses

Health timebomb fears as sugar tax introduced

A SURGE in hospital admissions related to obesity has raised fears of a health timebomb and increased strain on NHS services.

The number of people admitted to hospital where obesity was recorded as a factor has risen by 18 per cent in England.

In Yorkshire and Humber, obesity-linked hospital admissions were up by more than 10,000 between 2015-16 and the following year, according to figures released yesterday by NHS Digital. There were 69,462 obesity-linked admissions at the region’s hospitals in 2016-17. Nationally, overall admissions linked to obesity rose to almost 617,000 that year.

The figures were released ahead of a new sugar tax – designed to cut rates of obesity – coming into force in the UK tomorrow.

Professor Jonathan Valabhji, National Clinical Director for Diabetes and Obesity at NHS England said: “We have been clear that the growing obesity crisis sweeping the country is a public health crisis and the evidence backs it up.

“Obesity is associated with heart attacks, cancer, type 2 diabetes and a number of other illnesses – causing personal suffering and costing the health service and in turn the taxpayer, billions every year. And for all of those conditions, wherever possible, prevention is preferable to cure.”

In Bradford there were almost 7,500 obesity-linked hospital admissions in 2016-17.

A Bradford Council spokesman said: “A key focus in the Bradford District is to ensure the health and wellbeing of the local population is improved and we are committed in tackling obesity through the many initiatives and interventions to support and encourage everyone across the district to become healthier.”

In Leeds, annual obesity-related admissions rose by almost 1,000 between the last two years for which figures were available.

Dr Ian Cameron, the city’s Di- rector of Public Health, said: “We know that maintaining a healthy weight is important for our overall health.

“It helps lower our risk of heart disease, stroke and certain cancers. By just making some small, realistic changes to our diet, we can make an important and positive impact on our weight.”

Hospital admissions directly caused by patients being obese rose by eight per cent between 2015-16 and 2016-17.

There were 10,705 admissions with obesity the main cause, up from 9,929 the previous year. Almost three in every four patients, some 72 per cent, were female.

NHS Digital said 6,700 bariatric surgeries were carried out in English hospitals in 2016-17 and 77 per cent of patients were women.

Latest figures showed 16 per cent of children consumed the recommended five portions of fruit and vegetables a day in 2016, down from 23 per cent in 2014.

The prevalence of child obesity in 2016-17 was 10 per cent in reception year and 20 per cent in year six.

SO-CALLED “SIN taxes” on soft drinks, alcohol and tobacco, could be a powerful tool for combating rising rates of chronic disease worldwide, researchers claim.

A global study found taxes on soft drinks, snacks, alcohol and tobacco are more likely to change the lifestyle behaviour of vulnerable poorer consumers.

At the same time, most of the tax revenues would come from higher income households, the research found.

Poorer sections of society are disproportionately affected by non-communicable diseases (NCDs) linked to lifestyle, such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes and cancer, said the authors.

NCDs were described as a “major cause and consequence” of poverty.

The findings, from a series of articles published in The Lancet medical journal, were reported shortly before a controversial sugar tax on soft drinks comes into force in the UK tomorrow.

The tax is designed to hit manufacturers rather than consumers, but is likely to lead to price rises.

Any drink containing more than 5g of sugar per 100ml will incur a levy of 18p per litre.

The tax goes up to 24p per litre if the sugar content is over 8g per 100ml.

A taskforce of experts appointed by The Lancet gathered data from 13 countries around the world, all with large poor populations.

In one example, the authors cited the introduction of a soft drinks tax in Mexico which resulted in an average 4.2 litre reduction in consumption per person in 2014.

They found that soft drink purchases decreased by 17 per cent in lower income groups, but had hardly changed among the better off.

Other research found that in the UK, not one of the 13 countries assessed, the response to the possible introduction of a minimum price for alcohol was likely to be 7.6 times larger in poorer households than in the richest.

Dr Rachel Nugent, from the non-profit institute RTI International in Seattle, US, who chaired

The Lancet Taskforce on NCDs and Economics, said: “Non-communicable diseases are a major cause and consequence of poverty worldwide.

“Responding to this challenge means big investments to improve health care systems worldwide, but there are immediate and effective tools at our disposal.

“Taxes on unhealthy products can produce major health gains, and the evidence shows these can be implemented fairly, without disproportionately harming the poorest in society.”

However the findings were strongly challenged by Christopher Snowdon from the Institute of Economic Affairs.

He said: “The claim that poor people disproportionately benefit from these taxes is absurd.

“Sugar taxes have not reduced obesity rates anywhere in the world and smoking is much more prevalent among the poor than among the rich, despite decades of high taxes on tobacco.

“There is precious little evidence that poor people benefit from being taxed. On the contrary, sin taxes drive them further into poverty.”

The predicted health benefits of the UK’s new sugar tax, designed to reduce obesity, have also been disputed.

The British Soft Drinks Association said there was no evidence to suggest that a tax of this sort would have a meaningful impact on obesity.

It said sugar intake from soft drinks had been declining yearon-year since 2013, yet official NHS figures showed that obesity prevalence increased from 15 per cent in 1993 to 27 per cen4t in 2015.

Taxes on unhealthy products can produce major health gains. DrDr Rachel Nugent, from the non-profit institute RTI International in Seattle, US.