A new research published in the open-access journal BMC Public Health suggests that obesity and excess body fat may have contributed to more deaths in England and Scotland than smoking since 2014. Between 2003 and 2017, the percentage of deaths attributable to smoking is calculated to have decreased from 23.1 per cent to 19.4 per cent while deaths attributable to obesity and excess body fat are calculated to have increased from 17.9 to 23.1 per cent. It is estimated that deaths attributable to obesity and excess body fat overtook those attributable to smoking in 2014.
Corresponding author, Jill Pell at the University of Glasgow, said, “For several decades smoking has been a major target of public health interventions as it is a leading cause of avoidable deaths. As a result, the prevalence of smoking has fallen in the United Kingdom. At the same time the prevalence of obesity has increased. Our research indicates that, since 2014, obesity and excess body fat may have contributed to more deaths in England and Scotland than smoking.”
To examine changes in the prevalence of smoking, obesity and excess body fat in adults, the authors analysed data collected between 2003 and 2017 as part of the Health Surveys for England and Scottish Health Surveys, on 192, 239 adults across England and Scotland, who were 50 years old on average. Participants reported whether they had ever regularly smoked and their height and weight were measured by trained interviewers or nurses. The researchers combined their data with estimates of the risk of dying from smoking or obesity and excess body fat, to calculate the number of deaths that could be attributed to smoking and obesity and excess body fat.
The analysis also suggests that gender influenced the contributions of smoking, obesity, and excess body fat to estimated deaths. Obesity and excess body fat may have accounted for 5.2 per cent more deaths in 2017 than smoking in men, compared to 2.2 per cent more deaths in women. Estimated deaths due to obesity and excess body fat are thought to have increased by 25.9 per cent for women and 31 per cent for men between 2003 and 2017, while deaths due to smoking are thought to have decreased by 18.1 per cent for women and 14.9 per cent for men.
Pell said, “The increase in estimated deaths due to obesity and excess body fat is likely to be due to their contributions to cancer and cardiovascular disease. Our findings suggest that the public health and policy interventions aimed at reducing the prevalence of smoking have been successful and that national strategies to address obesity and excess body fat, particularly focusing on middle-aged and older age groups and men, should be a public health priority.”
