The British Heart Foundation (BHF) has projected that approximately 170,000 people in England will die from cardiovascular diseases linked to obesity by 2035, based on current trends. This equates to about 45 deaths per day over the next decade.
Current Obesity Trends and Death Rates
In the UK, around two in three adults are overweight or living with obesity. Globally, more than half of adults and a third of children and young people are projected to be overweight or obese by 2050, according to the Global Burden of Disease study. The BHF analysis indicates that in 2023, there were 16,156 cardiovascular disease deaths attributable to high BMI in England, at a rate of 28 deaths per 100,000 people.
Obesity as a Risk Factor
Obesity significantly increases the risk of heart and circulatory diseases. Excess weight can lead to fatty buildup in the arteries, restricting blood flow and raising the risk of heart attacks and strokes. About one in nine cardiovascular deaths in England each year is attributed to excess weight or obesity.
Regional Variations
Obesity rates vary across England. The north-east has the highest percentage of obese adults at 36%, followed by the West Midlands at 34%. London has the lowest rate, at just over 21%.
Calls for Government Action
Dr Charmaine Griffiths, chief executive of the BHF, warned that the UK is at risk of “sleepwalking further into an obesity epidemic which will have dire consequences for decades to come.” She stated, “These deaths are not inevitable. Bold action now by the UK government could mean preventing more lives being cut short by obesity.” She noted that the government’s promised “healthy food revolution” has yet to materialize and urged that pledges become policy.
Katharine Jenner, executive director of the Obesity Health Alliance, emphasized, “We cannot accept a future where tens of thousands more lives are cut short, unnecessarily, by diet-related disease.” She called for strong targets for businesses to improve the healthiness of their food and urged the government to publish a consultation on mandatory health reporting and introduce legislation for healthy food standards within this parliament.
Government Response
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson responded: “Cardiovascular disease remains one of the country’s biggest killers, and we know obesity has a major part to play in this. That’s why we are tackling obesity by rolling out weight loss drugs to more patients, requiring large businesses to report on the healthiness of their food, and setting new targets to improve the healthiness of products sold. We are helping people stay healthier for longer by improving prevention, speeding up diagnosis and treatment of heart disease and identifying those most at risk earlier.”
