The King’s Fund has found there were 14.3 million obese adults in England in 2024 – 7.2 million more than if rates had stayed the same as 1993.
As a result the health think tank has warned not to over-rely on weight loss treatments to tackle the obesity crisis.
It also called on policymakers to ensure that the people who benefit from these drugs most are not priced out of accessing them, so the UK does not end up with even wider health inequalities.
Millions more adults living with obesity
The warning follows new analysis from The King’s Fund which found double the number and proportion of obese or severely obese people than there would have been at 1993 rates.
That was the year after the first of 14 national obesity strategies was published.
Between 1993, when data was first recorded, and 2024, the latest year of full data, the percentage of adults who were either obese or severely obese had risen from 15% to 30%.
The analysis found this meant, based on the current population size, there were 7.2 million more adults who were living with obesity or severe obesity in 2024 than there would have been if obesity rates had remained unchanged since 1993, the year following the publication of the first obesity strategy.
Furthermore, the analysis found obesity rates among young people had risen particularly sharply.
In 1993, just 6% of 16-to 24-year-olds were obese or severely obese. In 2024, the rate was three times higher at 18%.
When accounting for the rise in obesity rates and population change it meant there were 730,000 more obese or severely obese young adults than there would have been if obesity rates had not risen over the last three decades, again based on the current population size.
There are now 1.1 million 16- to 24-year-olds classed as obese or severely obese.
Insurance industry use of GLP1s
The health and protection insurance sector has cautiously embraced weight loss treatments in recent times, with Vitality becoming the first UK insurer to offer weight loss injections on its weight management pathway back in February 2025.
The year also saw UnderwriteMe add weight loss medication questions to it protection platform.
This year, Vitality secured a membership discount for Boots’ weight loss service and Doctor Care Anywhere entered the market through its acquisitions of Outcome Diagnostics and Medic Spot.
Also this year, Syrona Health launched its workplace obesity programme, which includes GLP1s.
Speaking at Health & Protection’s Global Mobility & Health Summit earlier this year, Swiss Re life and health research and development manager Adam Strange highlighted that asking questions in the right way was vital to reducing non-disclosure from people who are using or have used weight loss drugs.
However, last year the Middle East Forum heard weight-loss injections were bringing conflict with patients along with their hype, and were not as successful as using lifestyle medicine approaches.
Weight loss treatments
The King’s Fund said it was understandable that central government was using weight loss treatments such as GLP1s as a new tool to tackle obesity.
However, it also needed to ensure the people who benefitted from them most were not priced out of accessing them, and that the UK does not end up with wider health inequalities caused by obesity due to affordability and access.
The government has also been urged to avoid over-reliance on these treatments to avoid a short-term ‘sugar rush’ of action that does not deal with the wider causes that have driven the obesogenic environment that has contributed to the obesity crisis the nation currently faces.
This means, in tandem with a roll out of GLP1s, it added, the government must tackle obesogenic environments and deliver on the promise of the healthy food standard it committed to in its 10-year health plan.
Given adults get 80% of their calories from the big food retailers, relatively small but sustainable and little noticed changes to diet through this route would make big inroads into obesity, the authors argued.
Therefore, the government was also urged to stop dragging its feet and get on with the mandatory targets, reporting and compliance of them it set out in the 10-year health plan.
Impact from devolution
The health think tank also said the devolution agenda offers a huge opportunity to tackle obesity – as the prime minister did in his time as mayor of Greater Manchester, introducing restrictions on the advertising of high fat, salt and sugar products on the transport network, following London’s lead.
The acceleration of English devolution and new health duties on mayors and strategic authorities gives an added policy alignment space to make inroads on obesity.
It added that devolution was a key mechanism for aligning the wider determinants of health and system incentives, bringing together transport, housing, employment, skills, regeneration and health around shared outcomes, with tackling health inequalities and obesity as a core issue.
Walking the walk
Dave Buck, senior fellow for Public Health at The King’s Fund, said: “For more than three decades successive governments of all stripes have talked the talk on obesity but have not sufficiently walked the walk. This analysis shows the scale of the failure to take the necessary action on tackling this obesity timebomb.
“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 real difference for some people, but they are not a silver bullet. 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.
“This would avoid a short-term ‘sugar rush’ of a wider GLP1s rollout, which should be treated as part of a wider effort to tackle obesity.
“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.
“Ministers need to move from warm words to action; to walk the walk not just talk the talk on obesity policy.”
