Obesity numbers in England double in 30 years despite 14 government strategies
Source: The BMJ, 10 August 2026
Obesity rates in England have doubled in three decades, with 14.3 million people now classed as obese.
The increase has come despite 14 government strategies intended to cut obesity levels being published in that time, a new analysis has found.
The analysis, from the health think tank the King’s Fund,1 found that at least 7.2 million more adults now have obesity than in 1993, the year after the first obesity strategy was published by John Major’s Conservative government.
Since then there have been 13 more national obesity strategies, but numbers have continued to rise, and an official at the King’s Fund said that the analysis showed the “scale of the failure to take the necessary action on tackling this obesity time bomb.”
The first of the government strategies, in the 1992 Health of the Nation white paper, aimed to reduce the proportion of obese men aged 16-64 from 7% in 1986-87 to 6% by 2005 and to cut obesity rates in women from 12% to 8% over the same period. But from 1993 (when data were first recorded) to 2024 (the latest year of full data) the percentage of adults who were either obese or severely obese had risen from 15% to 30%, said the King’s Fund.
Calculated using the Health Survey for England’s obesity prevalence estimates from 1993 and 2024 and the Office for National Statistics’ population estimates from mid-2024, the analysis found that this meant—on the basis of current population size—7.2 million more adults had obesity or severe obesity in 2024 than if obesity rates had remained unchanged since 1993.
In total, 14.3 million adults in England now had obesity or severe obesity.
The rise in obesity rates among young people was particularly stark, the King’s Fund said, highlighting that in 1993 only 6% of 16-24 year olds were obese or severely obese but in 2024 the rate was three times as high at 18%. When accounting for the rise in obesity rates and population change this meant that there were 730 000 more obese or severely obese young adults than there would have been if obesity rates had not risen over the past three decades, on the basis of current population size.
Official figures showed that 1.1 million 16-24 year olds were now classed as obese or severely obese.
Far too easy to become unhealthy
An accompanying commentary written by Dave Buck, senior fellow for public health at the King’s Fund,2 said, “For more than three decades successive governments of all stripes have talked the talk on obesity but have not sufficiently walked the walk.
“After 14 national strategies up to 2020, millions more people are living with obesity than would have been the case if governments had taken more effective action—with real consequences for people’s health, family life, work and the NHS.”
New weight loss drugs could make a difference for some people, but they were not a “silver bullet,” Buck added. “They should be seen as a complement to, not a substitute for, longer term and effective preventive measures that address the fact the everyday food environment makes it far too easy for people to become unhealthy.
“The government now has a chance to stop repeating past mistakes. That means making healthier food easier and more affordable, holding supermarkets and food companies to account, and using new powers for local leaders to improve health in their communities.”
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said, “Obesity is one of the biggest drivers of ill health in this country, costing the NHS billions of pounds every year.
“That’s why we’re making weight loss jabs available through the NHS, so those with the greatest need can receive those treatments, not just people who can pay privately. But we’ve always been clear that those drugs are only one part of a much broader plan to tackle obesity, including tackling the promotion of less healthy food and drink, and encouraging healthier options and exercise.”