Obesity in Britain: The Foresight Report

Published: 30 October 2007

The recently published Foresight Report which is the UK's largets study into obesity, predicts that if current obesity trends continue, by 2050 about 60% of men, 50% of women and 25% of children in the UK will be clinically obese.

The report claims the implications for the nation’s health include:
- type 2 diabetes to rise by 70%
- strokes to go up 30%
- coronary heart disease to increase by 20%

In 40 years time, the financial toll of this ill-health on the health service could rise to £45billion a year.

The  250 leading scientists who developed the report have called for the government to develop actions to stop the majority of the population becoming obese by 2050.  The scientists claim that rather than obesity being the simple product of over-indulgence, it is also the consequence of our 21st century lifestyle with its energy-dense, cheap foods, labour-saving devices, sedentary lifestyle and reliance on cars.

The Foresight Report highlighted a range of policy recommendations for the government to consider.  These ranged from towns planned to encourage more physical activity and mothers encouraged to breast feed as it is believed to slow down infant weight gain.