Obesity in Wales (2019) (2024)

FAQs

What is the obesity problem in Wales? ›

Around 60% of adults (16 +) are overweight or obese – with a quarter of those classified as obese.

From 2019 to March 2020, adult obesity rates ranged from a low of 36.7 percent in the West to the highest rate at 43.1 percent in the South, a 6.4-percentage point difference.

Obesity is a leading public health concern in Wales. Almost a quarter of adults self-report to be obese, an estimated 600,000 adults, while one in eight reception age children are obese.

It is estimated that obesity costs the Welsh NHS £73 million a year, increasing to £86 million when including overweight, creating a burden on healthcare services.

Cancers and cardiovascular disease together contribute 61% of YLL and 36% of DALYs. Cancer is now the leading cause of the burden of disease and Wales has a comparatively high cancer DALY rate compared to most UK nations. It accounts for an estimated 167,000 DALYs a year (19%) and has shown little decrease since 1990.

“the availability of cheap, calorific processed foods high in sugar and fat, combined with more sedentary lifestyles, have resulted in rapidly increasing childhood obesity rates in the last few decades' (Public Health Wales).”

Percentage of obese U.S. adults by state 2022

The states with the lowest percentage of their population who are obese include Colorado, Hawaii, and Vermont.

Health Impacts

Children who are obese can experience health issues such as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, gall stones, asthma, sleep-disordered breathing and musculoskeletal conditions.

Healthy Weight Healthy Wales sets out a range of actions including banning the sale of energy drinks to children, restricting junk food marketing, delivering programmes to promote physical activity and better diets and delivering services for children and families already struggling with weight and inactivity.

What is healthy weight healthy Wales? ›

Healthy Weight: Healthy Wales sets out Welsh Government's ambitious plans, over a ten year period, to transform the way decisions are made in everyday life which impact upon our weight and wellbeing.

The most recent figures from the National Survey for Wales show that 62% of adults age 16+ in Wales are overweight or obese (25% reported being obese). Rates are also increasing among children.

“Obesity is a very serious problem in Wales, putting our people at increased risk of chronic diseases like type 2 diabetes, cancer, heart disease or stroke affecting our health and wellbeing.

In Wales there are 60,000 admissions to hospital every year, because of alcohol. Alcohol costs the NHS £159 million annually. In 2018, there were 535 alcohol-related deaths in Wales.

“Poverty is a major driver of poor health and health inequalities in Wales. Poverty and its impact on children's health is not a new problem in Wales but it is one that the cost of living crisis has made worse, pushing more families into crisis.

Physical activity

Many people have jobs that involve sitting at a desk for most of the day. They also rely on their cars, rather than walking or cycling. For relaxation, many people tend to watch TV, browse the internet or play computer games, and rarely take regular exercise.

Ebbw Vale, situated in Blaenau Gwent, Southeast Wales, has garnered a reputation as the "fattest" town in the UK, largely attributed to soaring obesity rates.