Obesity

Statistical Publication Notice

25 September 2007

Obesity in Scotland

INTRODUCTION

Obesity continues to be a serious public health concern in Scotland as the prevalence rises. The main purpose of this report is to review population data on obesity in Scotland in order to provide policy makers and practitioners with data to support decisions, strategies and action on obesity.

This is the first in a series of reports by ScotPHO on key public health issues in Scotland. The report provides an overview of the epidemiology of obesity in Scotland, describing geographical and social variations in obesity, health inequalities and related morbidity and mortality. The report concludes by identifying some important information needs and gaps for public health intelligence on obesity in Scotland.

KEY FINDINGS

The prevalenceofobesity(BMI>30kg/m2) in Scotland has increased over the past two decades, reaching 22% in men and 24% in women in 2003 with marked increases in men aged 35-64 years and in women aged 35-44 years.
Obesity in children is now common. In Scotland, nearly, one in five (18%) boys and over one in ten (14%) girls aged 2–15 years are obese.
It is estimated that obesity in Scotland is linked to nearly 500,000 cases of high blood pressure, 30,000 cases of type 2 diabetes, and similar numbers of cases of osteoarthritis and gout.
It is estimated that obese people in Scotland are 18% more likely to be hospitalised than those of normal weight.
Existing international evidence in relation to mortality associated with obesity suggests that the risk of death among obese people is two to three times higher than people of normal weight.
International comparisons show that Scotland has very high levels of obeisty compared with other European countries.

CONCLUSIONS

This report highlights the extent of obesity as a major public health problem for both children and adults in Scotland. Obesity levels in both adults and children have risen steadily over the last 10 years with marked increases in men aged 35-64 years and in women aged 35-44 years. The increasing prevalence of obesity is of serious concern given the levels of morbidity and mortality associated with obesity. These figures provide little evidence that current approaches to obesity are having any impact. Levels of obesity in Scotland and England are broadly similar for men though Scotland has higher levels of obesity among women. International comparisons show that Scotland has very high levels of obesity compared with European countries.

To support a broad based approach to tackling obesity, we need more robust information on both individual behaviours and the wider determinants of obesity. For example, information on factors related to the development of and outcomes associated with, obesity is limited and further work with national data sources is required to improve our public health intelligence.

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