Obesity rising faster in younger adults, stark analysis shows
Levels of obesity in England have risen since the pandemic with the fastest increase among younger adults, an analysis has shown.
A study of NHS England electronic health records covering nearly 55 million adults also found widening geographical and socioeconomic disparities.
Reporting in The Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology, the researchers said rates of new obesity cases increased overall by 4% in 2025 compared with before the Covid-19 pandemic.
But when looked at by age, new obesity cases rose by almost 20% in those aged 30-39, and by 16% in those aged 20-29, while rates fell among adults aged 60-79.
Between 2019 and 2025, rates of new obesity cases were 35% higher for people with the highest socioeconomic deprivation compared with people with the lowest.
This gap was even wider for women, where new cases were 54% higher among the most deprived, and for Asian women, 94% higher.
The percentage of people affected by obesity in some areas of northeast England (48%) was nearly six times higher than that seen in the most affluent parts of central London (8.5%), the researchers found.
It means obesity is now more common than hypertension in the UK, and nearly three times as common as smoking.
The findings highlight the ‘scale and urgency’ of the obesity crisis, and how it has worsened since the pandemic, the team concluded.
Co-author Professor Naveed Sattar, professor of cardiometabolic medicine at the University of Glasgow and Chair of the Obesity Health Care Goals Programme said the ‘powerful data’ indicate that those most at risk frequently reside in the most obesogenic environments and likely have the least agency to withstand such environments.
‘To achieve lasting change, the UK must expand access to new treatments faster but also fundamentally reshape food and activity environments so that healthier choices occur with minimal conscious effort.
‘Failure to act will drive further rises in multimorbidity and human suffering, with profound consequences for the NHS and the wider economy.
Study co-lead Robert Fletcher from the University of Cambridge and Health Data Research UK said disparities on this scale are rarely seen in other areas of public health.
‘The rise in new cases among young adults of childbearing age is especially concerning.
‘Beyond the implications for their own long-term health, obesity is associated with infertility, adverse pregnancy outcomes, and child obesity, which may perpetuate intergenerational cycles of health inequality.’
He noted that the study did not find any obvious reduction in obesity following the introduction of GLP-1 receptor agonists in the study period looked at.
‘However, the drugs on their own are unlikely to be the answer.
‘At present, the majority are privately prescribed and the jabs are expensive, which poses a barrier for people from disadvantaged backgrounds. We need deep-seated change to the many social and economic factors that drive obesity in the first place.’
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