A major study has shown the scale of the obesity problem in the UK. This has a significant risk of death and disease attached to weight gain. People with a body mass index (BMI) of 30-35 were 70% higher risk of developing heart failure than people with 18.25-25 BMI.
The study was of 2.8 million adults and showed even slightly overweight people were two times more likely to get Type 2 diabetes.
The study, to be presented at the European Congress on Obesity (ECO) in Glasgow, also showed:
- People with severe obesity (BMI of 40-45) were 12 times more likely to develop Type 2 diabetes and had a risk of sleep apnoea that was 22 times greater
- For those with a BMI of 35-40, the risk of Type 2 diabetes was almost nine times higher, and 12 times higher for sleep apnoea
- People with a BMI of 40-45 had triple the risk of heart failure, high blood pressure, and dyslipidaemia (abnormal levels of cholesterol and other fats in the blood)
- BMI of 40-45 was also linked to a 50% higher risk of dying prematurely from any cause
The study’s author, Christiane Haase, of healthcare firm Novo Nordisk which funded the work, said: “With the number of people living with obesity almost tripling worldwide over the past 30 years (105 million people in 1975 to 650 million in 2016), our findings have serious implications for public health.”
Researchers used NHS data to look at what happened over 10 years to the health of people in five weight categories. They also looked at 12 health outcomes including death from any cause over the decade.
Those whose health declined most tended to be men and women who already had underlying conditions at the start of the study. These conditions were things such as high blood pressure, asthma, type 2 diabetes and osteoarthritis.
Victoria Taylor, nutrition lead at the British Heart Foundation, said: “More than a quarter of UK adults (28%) are obese and it’s something that we urgently need action on.”
