Excess weight has been contributing to more deaths since 2014 and gap is widening, researchers say
Public health campaigns in the UK to address the dangers of smoking have been hugely successful – but we’ve replaced one oral fixation with another: food. Researchers now estimate that since 2014, obesity and excess body fat have contributed to more deaths in England and Scotland than smoking.
Smoking rates have been falling, from 20.2% of the UK’s adult population in 2011 to 14.1% in 2019, while obesity rates have been rising, from 15% in England in 1993 to 28% in 2019.
