Obesity And Its Expensive Relationship WIth The NHS...

Recently, the NHS chief executive Simon Stevens issued a statement to the public at the Public Health England conference in Coventry, which is held each year. In the light of an on-going obesity epidemic, he believes that "Obesity is the new smoking". Describing the disease as a "slow-motion car crash", he, along with thousands across the country, recognise that the costs involved in treating obesity has risen year on year to a point where it'll become unsustainable without raises taxes.

Basic statistics reveal how vast the problem is: 25% of adults and over 20% of children are considered obese. I encourage you to see my other article, 'Fat!', for more interesting statistics.

By many, obesity is considered a disease of all age groups, which makes the numbers affected much larger. Tackling the issue therefore proves an expensive task, as currently the government spends around £9bn every year on treatments.

Stevens added that Britain would be 'piling on the pounds in terms of future taxes'.

Percentage of men and women obese from 1993 - 2009 (BBC article)

However its important to appreciate that obesity isn't just an isolated disease. In the majority of cases, obesity will inevitably lead onto other complications including cancer, diabetes and heart disease. Treating people for these additional problems will only increase the overall cost of treatment. At present, the most common direct treatment for obesity (especially those morbidly or severely obese) is bariatric surgery. There are two main types - gastric band and gastric bypass. A gastric band uses a restriction of stomach size, so than when food is ingested, less is required to make you feel 'full'. The alternative method is a gastric bypass, 'where your digestive system is re-routed past most of your stomach'. This gives the effect of digesting less food, having a similar psychological effect to a gastric band. Despite the obvious benefits, patients are always made aware of the potential complications to their health post-surgery. Internal bleeding or deep vein thrombosis (DVT) are just a named couple. Generally however, patients are enrolled onto a 'rigourous and lifelong plan', including regular exercise and a monitored diet, according to NHS Choices.

However this measure may only be considered suitable for those whose life is at risk and require emergency intervention. Those who register as 'overweight' on the BMI scale, are currently not legible for bariatric surgery.

But how can the nationwide problem be tackled? According to the BBC, one of the future proposals would be to increase spending on 'lifestyle intervention programmes' rather than bariatric and similar surgery. This will be a step forward in combating obesity in the long term. Surgery could be considered a relatively short-term solution. 

Credit to Nick Triggle, BBC Health correspondent, for his article published which can be read here. Also the full speech by CEO Simon Stevens can be read here.