| National Audit Office Who1 #349156 The National Audit Office (NAO) scrutinises public spending on behalf of Parliament. Our audit of central government has two main aims. By reporting the results of our audits to Parliament, we hold government departments and bodies to account for the way they use public money, thereby safeguarding the interests of taxpayers. In addition, our work aims to help public service managers improve performance and service delivery. |
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+Citations (3)
- CitationsAdd new citationList by: CiterankMapLink[2] Tackling Obesity in England
Author: National Audit Office
Publication info: 2001 February, 15
Cited by: David Price 9:32 PM 18 November 2014 GMT
Citerank: (2) 348767A potentially unsustainable financial burden on the health systemThe range of obesity's impacts makes accurate economic analysis challenging; however, a November 2014 study from the McKinsey Global Institute placed the annual economic impact on the UK at around $73bn (£46bn). Earlier analysis and modelling for the 2007 Foresight Report suggested a cost to the NHS of around £4.2bn annually to treat people with health problems related to elevated BMI and a total wider cost to the economy of around £15.8bn (rising to £27bn by 2015 and £49.9bn by 2050).57DE7179, 399973A potentially unsustainable financial burden on the health systemThe range of obesity's impacts makes accurate economic analysis challenging; however, a November 2014 study from the McKinsey Global Institute placed the annual economic impact on the UK at around $73bn (£46bn). Earlier analysis and modelling for the 2007 Foresight Report suggested a cost to the NHS of around £4.2bn annually to treat people with health problems related to elevated BMI and a total wider cost to the economy of around £15.8bn (rising to £27bn by 2015 and £49.9bn by 2050).57DE7179
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| Excerpt / Summary Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, told Parliament today that the prevalence of obesity in England had tripled over the last 20 years and continues to rise. Most adults in England are now overweight, and one in five is obese.
Producing the first authoritative estimates of the costs and consequences of obesity in England, Sir John estimated that obesity accounted for 18 million days of sickness absence and 30,000 premature deaths in 1998. On average, each person whose death could be attributed to obesity lost nine years of life. Treating obesity costs the NHS at least £½ billion a year. The wider costs to the economy in lower productivity and lost output could be a further £2 billion each year.
Sir John recommends that greater effort is placed on establishing an evidence based approach to the problem to enable the NHS to adopt a more consistent approach to the management of obesity. Continued and more extensive joint working across government is also needed, both nationally and locally, to promote long term changes in lifestyles |