Obesity, physical activity and nutrition

This profile presents the latest available data to help understand and monitor the patterns and trends in obesity, physical activity and nutrition at national, regional, and local levels in England.

Obesity

Tackling obesity is one of the greatest long-term health challenges currently faced in England. The 2024 Health Survey for England reported that two-thirds (66%) of adults are above a healthy weight, and of these around half are living with obesity. In England, data from the National Child Measurement Programme, displayed in this profile, shows that 1 in 3 children leaving primary school are overweight or living with obesity with 1 in 5 living with obesity. Obesity is associated with reduced life expectancy and a range of health conditions including type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, liver and respiratory disease and cancer. Obesity can also have an impact on mental health.

Physical activity

Evidence from the World Health Organization shows that physical inactivity is the fourth leading risk factor for global mortality accounting for 6% of deaths globally. People who have a physically active lifestyle have a 20-35% lower risk of cardiovascular disease, coronary heart disease and stroke compared to those who have a sedentary lifestyle. Regular physical activity is also associated with a reduced risk of diabetes, obesity, osteoporosis and colon/breast cancer and with improved mental health. In older adults, physical activity is associated with increased functional capacities.

The 2024 Health Survey for England reported that 27% of adults in England were physically inactive. Data from the Active Lives Survey, displayed in this profile, shows that around two-thirds (67%) of adults in England are meeting the recommended level of physical activity which varies across local areas from 49.9% to 80.5%.

Nutrition

Healthy eating is associated with decreased risk of overweight and obesity and chronic diseases, including type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, hypertension, and certain cancers. However, there is a large gap between nutrition recommendations and what the data shows we actually eat. For example, in England, the Health Survey for England reports that less than a third of adults currently meet the ‘five a day’ target for fruit and vegetables. Data from the National Diet and Nutrition Survey show people in the UK are consuming higher than recommended amounts of sugar, saturated fat and salt, and lower than recommended levels of fibre and other key nutrients.

 

Child measurement data for Scotland is available from Public Health Scotland, and for Wales from Public Health Wales. International data on obesity prevalence, physical activity and nutrition is published in the World Health Organization's Global Health Observatory.

 

This new profile combines the indicators from the obesity and physical activity profiles. This merger of the two profiles has been guided by comments received from users in the health and social care statistics consultation and additional feedback from users.

To ensure that indicators published in this profile are timely, useful and robust, a number of indicators have been discontinued. Full details of the indicators removed are in this uploaded spreadsheet.