Official Statistics

Obesity Profile: short statistical commentary May 2024

Published 8 May 2024

Applies to England

What’s new

The following indicators have been updated:

• overweight (including obesity) prevalence in adults (aged 18 and over)

• obesity prevalence in adults (aged 18 and over)

• percentage of physically active adults (aged 19 and over)

• percentage of physically inactive adults (aged 19 and over)

• percentage of adults aged 16 and over meeting the ‘5-a-day’ fruit and vegetable consumption recommendations (new method)

Data has been added for local authority boundaries created in April 2023.

Introduction

This statistical commentary provides background information on the updated indicators for adults on:

• overweight and obesity prevalence
• physical activity and inactivity
• consumption of 5 or more portions of fruit and vegetables per day

in the Obesity Profile on Fingertips. It presents data for England.

Obesity is a global and complex public health concern. It is associated with reduced life expectancy and is a risk factor for a range of chronic diseases, including cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, cancer, liver, and respiratory disease, and can also impact on mental health.

Regular physical activity is associated with a reduced risk of diabetes, obesity, osteoporosis, colon and breast cancer, and improved mental health.  In older adults, physical activity is associated with increased functional capacities.  Inactivity is doing less than 30 moderate intensity equivalent (MIE) minutes per week. Being physically active is doing at least 150 MIE minutes physical activity per week.

Fruit and vegetables are part of a healthy, balanced diet and can help the public stay healthy. Evidence shows there are significant health benefits to getting at least 5 portions of a variety of fruit and vegetables every day. Understanding the data, the trends and patterns enables us to make the case for national and local action, and approaches to create health-promoting environments.

The Obesity Profile also includes data on inequalities in these indicators, displaying data by index of multiple deprivation decile, ethnic group, working status, disability, level of education, socioeconomic class, age and sex.

Main findings

Prevalence of overweight and obesity in adults (aged 18 years and over)

In 2022 to 2023, 64.0% of adults aged 18 years and over in England were estimated to be overweight or living with obesity. This is similar to 2021 to 2022 (63.8%) but there has been an upward trend since 2015 to 2016 (61.2%) (Figure 1). In 2022 to 2023 26.2% of adults were estimated to be living with obesity. This is similar to 2021 to 2022 (25.9%) but, as with the prevalence of overweight (including obesity), there has been an upward trend since 2015 to 2016 (22.6%).

Figure 1: prevalence of overweight and obesity in adults (aged 18 years and over)

In 2022 to 2023, the prevalence of overweight (including obesity) was higher among men (69.2%) than women (58.6%), however the prevalence of obesity in adults was similar among men (26.4%) and women (26.2%).

Prevalence of overweight (including obesity), and obesity increases with age up to age 64, reaching the peak in the 55 to 64 years group (72.8% and 32.4% respectively) then decreasing in the 65 to 74 years and older groups.

Prevalence of overweight and obesity in adults by deprivation and ethnicity

Prevalence of overweight (including obesity), and obesity is highest in those living in the most deprived areas (71.5% and 35.9% respectively) and lowest in those living in the least deprived areas (59.6% and 20.5% respectively).

When looking at different ethnic groups, the prevalence of overweight (including obesity) and obesity in adults remains highest amongst those who identified as black (74.8% and 34.8% respectively) or white British (65.3% and 27.6% respectively).

Physical activity and inactivity in adults (aged 19 years and over)

In England in 2022 to 2023, 67.1% of adults were physically active. This is similar to 2021 to 2022 (67.3%) and the pre-pandemic level in 2018 to 2019 (67.2%), but higher than 2015 to 2016 (66.1%). 22.6% of adults were inactive in 2022 to 2023 which is similar to 2021 to 2022 (22.3%) and 2015 to 2016 (22.3%).

Women are less likely to be physically active than men (64.9% compared to 69.6%) and are more likely than men to be inactive (24.0% compared to 21.0%).

The proportion of physically active adults decreases with age; adults aged 19 to 24 years have the highest percentage of physically active adults (73.2%) decreasing to 56.0% and 30.7% in adults aged 75 to 84 years and 85 and over respectively. The proportion of adults who are physically inactive is highest in the 75 to 84 (33.2%) and 85 and over (57.3%) age groups and much lower among adults aged between 19 and 64 where the range is from 17.7% to 21.7%.

Figure 2: percentage of physically active and inactive adults (aged 19 years and over)

Physical activity and inactivity in adults by deprivation and ethnicity

53.9% of adults living in the most deprived areas are physically active compared to 74.0% of adults living in the least deprived areas, while 35.3% are inactive in the most deprived areas compared to 16.1% in the least deprived areas.

Physical activity is highest in white British (69.3%), white other (68.6%) and mixed (71.9%) ethnic groups and lowest in black (55.2%) and Asian (56.1%) ethnic groups. Inactivity is highest in Asian (32.0%), other (31.5%) and black (31.2) ethnic groups and lowest in white British (20.8%), white other (21.2%) and mixed (19.0%) ethnic groups.

Adults (aged 16 years and over) eating at least 5 portions of fruit and vegetables a day

In England in 2022 to 2023, 31.0% of adults reported eating at least 5 portions of fruit and vegetables a day. This is less than in 2021 to 2022 when 32.5% of adults reported eating at least 5 portions, and 2020 to 2021 when 34.9% of adults reported eating at least 5 portions. Comparable data is not available prior to 2020 to 2021.

Figure 3: percentage of adults eating at least 5 portions of fruit and vegetables a day, by sex

Women are more likely than men to eat at least 5 portions of fruit and vegetables a day (34.2% compared with 27.6%). Adults aged 55 and over are more likely to eat at least 5 portions of fruit and vegetables (35.3% and higher) than those aged under 55 years old.

Adults eating at least 5 portions of fruit and vegetables a day by deprivation and ethnicity

More adults living in the least deprived areas eat at least 5 portions of fruit and vegetables a day compared to any other deprivation group (37.2%). The proportion decreases as level of deprivation increases down to 20.3% of adults living in the most deprived areas.

Lower proportions of Asian and black adults eat at least 5 portions of fruit and vegetables a day (19.2% and 21.0% respectively). The proportion is highest among white British adults (32.9%).

Further information

The indicators published in the Obesity Profile present local authority estimates from Sport England’s Active Lives Adult Survey (ALAS) data to help inform local action to improve the health of the population now and into the future. A detailed description of the methods used to produce the indicators can be found in the definitions data view of the indicators in the Obesity Profile.

Data on adult overweight and obesity prevalence

The best indicator of obesity prevalence for adults at a national level comes from the Health Survey for England, which uses measured height and weight to calculate body mass index (BMI). However, the survey sample size is not sufficient to produce robust estimates at local level.

The indicators presented in the Obesity Profile use self-reported height and weight from the ALAS which are adjusted so that they more accurately predicted measured values.

The 2022 to 2023 obesity prevalence of 26.2% is similar to the latest available estimates from the 2021 Health Survey for England (HSE) (25.9%) which also used adjusted self-reported measurements due to the COVID-19 social distancing restrictions in place at the time. 2022 data from HSE will be available later in 2024 and this will be the first estimate of obesity prevalence since the pandemic to use measured heights and weights making it comparable with pre-pandemic HSE data.

Data on physical activity

The Health Survey for England is the best source for physical activity data at a national level. The HSE allows for comparison over a longer time period, providing data for 2012, 2016 and 2021. The HSE also provides a more complete summary of activity levels as it includes physical activity while at work and other non-occupational activities such as housework, manual work and DIY activities, in addition to activities covered by ALAS such as gardening, walking, and sports and exercise.

More information and the physical activity data from the HSE is published in the adult physical activity chapter of the HSE 2021 report.

Data on fruit and vegetable consumption

National estimates of fruit and vegetable consumption are available from the Health Survey for England, and the National Diet and Nutrition Survey (NDNS), which are both much more comprehensive in their questions than the ALAS. But the survey sample sizes for these surveys are not sufficient to provide local authority level estimates.

For the HSE, participants are asked numerous questions, including separate questions about fruits, vegetables and pulses, and portion sizes rather than a single-item question in the ALAS.

For the NDNS, data are collected using food diaries. Foods are then broken down to their component parts and fruit and vegetable portions are calculated.

These differences are included in the indicator source section of the Public Health Outcomes Framework.

For queries relating to this document, please contact: [email protected]