Obesity is widely acknowledged as a major public health issue, not just in the UK but globally. According to the 2022/23 health survey for England, 29% of adults were living with obesity, and 64% were either overweight or living with obesity.

Obesity is recognised as a complex global health concern which increases the risk of many other health conditions, including type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, joint problems, mental health problems and some cancers.

People living with obesity can experience problems getting jobs and staying in work, lower earnings, and barriers to career progression which worsens inequalities.

The 2021 Global Burden of Disease study shows obesity as 1 of the biggest risk factors driving death and disability in England, as well as high blood pressure, alcohol use and smoking.

The most up-to-date statistics on public health in England 2023 report shows:

• 8,716 hospital admissions directly attributable to obesity, up 13% on the previous year
• in 2022/23 there were just over 1.2 million hospital admissions where obesity was a factor. This is an increase of 8% on 2021/22, when there were 1,142 thousand admissions

These webpages show the programmes that NHS England has been part of developing, including the Digital Weight Management Programme and access to certain weight loss medicines.