3.3 What do the statistics mean?
As you saw in Activity 4, the broad picture is that over 60 per cent of people in each of the four nations of the UK report that they are overweight or obese, if BMI is the measure used. Of these, not less than a quarter, and in some places nearly a third of people say they are obese. Consider for a moment what this means:
- Objective measures can establish that over 60 percent of people are obese or overweight.
- ‘Not less than a quarter’ think, subjectively, that they are not.
This means there is a gap of understanding between the 25% of people who are obese or overweight and know it, and the 60% people who are obese or overweight but think they are not.
And as you can see from Figure 9, according to the UK Health Security Agency, there is a greater problem with obesity in the north of England compared with the south, and a greater number of females categorised as obese in the north of England as well (Hancock, 2021). And although there is variation in different parts of the north or south, it is clear that people living in areas with more income deprivation are more likely to have a range of health conditions, including overweight and obesity (Baker, 2019). The link between deprivation and obesity affects all age groups too, including children, who are more than twice as likely to be obese if they live in the most deprived areas compared with their peers living in the richest areas (Department of Health and Social Care, 2020).
And yet, calls to action on this tend to repeat a focus on individual choice rather than what is given to us:
Governments have adopted less interventionist policy approaches … policies have relied on a design that makes high demands on individual agency, meaning that they rely on individuals to make behavior changes rather than shaping external influences such as the environment or economy and are thus less likely to be effective or reduce health inequities. …
To increase the likelihood of policies being implemented, governments should accompany policy proposals with … a clearly identified responsible agent, evaluation plan, and time frame; and to increase … effectiveness and equability, governments should increasingly focus obesity strategies on ‘low agency’ population intervention[s].
In the next activity, you’ll read a report that is not only about what individuals can do to improve their health and reduce their weight, but also what government could do.
Content warning
Please be aware that the next activity discusses COVID-19. If you are concerned this might adversely affect your mental health or wellbeing, you might prefer to skip this activity or engage with it lightly.
Activity 5 What has been done to tackle obesity?
Read sections 1 to 3 (‘Introduction’, ‘COVID-19 and obesity’ and ‘A call to action’) in ‘Tackling obesity: empowering adults and children to live healthier lives’ (Department of Health and Social Care, 2020) and then answer the following questions.
1. Is there a link between deprivation and obesity?
Discussion
The report states in section 1 that ‘Obesity prevalence is highest amongst the most deprived groups in society. Children in the most deprived parts of the country are more than twice as likely to be obese as their peers living in the richest areas’. So, if you live in poor circumstances, there is a likelihood that you will be obese or overweight. The report goes on to state that this lowers life expectancy through an increased likelihood of disease.
2. According to the policy paper, does the risk from having COVID-19 increase as body mass increases?
Discussion
Although there are problems with using BMI as a statistic because it does not accommodate some people, in general the answer is that the risk of serious illness or death from having COVID-19 does increase as BMI increases. The report states in section 2 that ‘new evidence in the UK and internationally, indicates that being overweight or living with obesity is associated with an increased risk of hospitalisation, severe symptoms, advanced levels of treatment such as mechanical ventilation or admission to Intensive Care Units and death from COVID-19. These risks increase progressively as an individual’s body mass index (BMI) increases’. Note that these statistics are from 2020, prior to the widespread vaccination of the UK population.
3. What does the report say the government will do to address overweight and obesity in the population?
Discussion
In 2020, the following policy suggestions were made in the report:
- introducing a new campaign – a call to action for everyone who is overweight to take steps to move towards a healthier weight, with evidence-based tools and apps with advice on how to lose weight and keep it off
- working to expand weight management services available through the NHS, so more people get the support they need to lose weight
- publishing a four-nation public consultation to gather views and evidence on our current ‘traffic light’ label to help people make healthy food choices
- introducing legislation to require large out-of-home food businesses, including restaurants, cafes and takeaways with more than 250 employees, to add calorie labels to the food they sell
- consulting on our intention to make companies provide calorie labelling on alcohol
- legislating to end the promotion of foods high in fat, sugar or salt (HFSS) by restricting volume promotions such as ‘buy one get one free’, and the placement of these foods in prominent locations intended to encourage purchasing, both online and in physical stores in England
- banning the advertising of HFSS products being shown on TV and online before 9pm, and holding a short consultation as soon as possible on how we introduce a total HFSS advertising restriction online.
Having established the scale of the obesity problem and its costs to society, it is often argued that governments, and even society as a whole, have a responsibility to try to address the issue. If people live in an obesogenic environment, then while it will be necessary to concentrate attention on individual consumers, it is also the case that entrenched interests in society that profit from highly processed foods must be addressed. Next, you will look at how a lack of understanding about what we eat contributes to obesity.
OpenLearn - Healthy living and choice (title tbc)
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