According to the latest Health Survey for England, millions of people in England are overweight, obese or don’t do enough exercise.
The National statistics publication surveyed just over 10,000 adults and children to collect data on conditions such as diabetes, adult and child weight, smoking, drinking and physical activity.
The report found that in 2018, 28% of children aged 2 to 15 were overweight or obese; including 15% who were obese.
Children’s overweight and obesity was associated with that of their parents. The report found that 26% of children of obese mothers were also obese, compared with 16% of children whose mothers were overweight but not obese.
Similarly, 22% of children of obese fathers were themselves obese, compared with 14% of children whose fathers were overweight but not obese.
The report also found that more than half of adults (56%) were at increased, high or very high risk of chronic disease due to their waist circumference and BMI.
It found that 26% of men and 29% of women were obese, with 2% of men and 4% of women were morbidly obese.
When focusing on exercise, 27% of adults were classified as ‘inactive’, as they did less than 30 minutes of moderate or vigorous physical activity per week.
Contributing to the obesity levels in the UK, the report also found that 10% of men and 5% of women drink alcohol nearly every day. The older age groups are more likely to drink regularly, with 16% of men and 11% of women drinking nearly every day (age 65 to 74), compared with 4% of men and 2% of women in the 25-34 bracket.
Only 3% of all adults aged 16 to 24 drank on five or more days a week, rising to 7% of those aged 25-34, 14% of those aged 45-54, 17% of those aged 55-64 and 21% of those aged 65-74.
The survey also found that almost one in three men (31%) drink more than the recommended amount of alcohol (14 units) every week, as do 14% of women.