Shocking results of a public health survey have revealed that around a quarter of adults in England were obese in 2021.
The report also found that around half of adults (49%) drank alcohol at least once a week, and about one in eight (12%) were current cigarette smokers.
Published by NHS Digital, the Health Survey for England, 2021 reports on the nation’s health and surveyed 5,880 adults about a variety of topics including cigarette smoking, e-cigarette use and alcohol consumption.
For most of 2021, interviews were carried out by telephone, rather than in person because of COVID-19 pandemic precautions. As a result of these changes in data collection, findings from 2021 are not directly comparable with those from previous years.
The figures for 2021 show that 26% of adults in England were obese – with obesity increasing with age from 8% of adults aged 16-24 to 32% of those aged 65-74. Obesity prevalence was lowest among adults living in the least deprived areas (20%) and highest in the most deprived areas (34%).
11% of adults who were obese reported that they had received a diagnosis of diabetes from a doctor, compared with 5% of overweight adults and 3% of those who were neither overweight nor obese.
A higher proportion of men were either overweight or obese (69%) compared with women (59%). The survey also showed that 12% of adults were current cigarette smokers. Two-thirds of adults (66%) had never regularly smoked. More men (13%) than women (10%) reported that they currently smoked. 5% of all adults were defined as current e-cigarette users.
The Health Survey for England is commissioned by NHS Digital and carried out by the National Centre for Social Research in conjunction with UCL, which co-authors the report.
