Most Of NHS In England 'Is Failing To Take Obesity Seriously Enough'

Much of the NHS does not take obesity seriously enough, despite it being an unfolding health disaster that costs Britain £98bn a year, according to a report.

- Denis Campbell

Only five of England's 42 integrated care boards (ICBS) - regional groupings of NHS trusts that coordinate care over wide areas - have made weight management one of their priorities, according to the Future Health thinktank.

Its analysis found that the other 37 ICBS did not identify obesity as a key issue in their forward plans, which set out what they see as the most pressing issues for the next five years.

"Too many parts of the NHS are giving obesity too little priority," said Richard Sloggett, the report's author and a former special adviser at the Department of Health and Social Care. "Given what a huge and worsening problem obesity is - for individuals, the NHS, society at large and also its impact on the economy -I was concerned to see that so few NHS bodies regarded tackling it as one of their key priorities."

Two ICBS did not reference obesity at all in their forward plans and three did so only once, adding to the impression that they did not see it as a main concern.