High obesity and diabetes led to UK having ‘bad’ Covid outcome

High levels of obesity and diabetes contributed to the UK having a “bad outcome” from Covid-19, the official inquiry into the pandemic heard this week.

Professor Dame Sally Davies pointed to a “lack of resilience” in terms of the UK’s public health as a contributor to the heavy impact the pandemic had on the nation.

“I would talk about the lack of resilience in the public’s health: 25% of children in year six are obese; 60% of adults are obese or overweight; we have high levels of diabetes,” she told the inquiry.

From early on in the pandemic, it was clear that people who were obese or overweight tended to be more at risk of adverse outcomes or more severe disease from the virus.

“It is essential that we take cross-government action to support the public in reducing obesity and improving their general health. We have to address the inequalities in health purposefully.

“In my view this should include measures to promote healthy lifestyles through taxation, as we already do for alcohol and tobacco,” she also said.

Separately, a study of GP records in The Lancet has indicated the period of the pandemic saw a sharp rise in the number of teenage girls in the UK developing eating disorders and self-harming.

The increases were greatest among girls living in the wealthiest areas, which could be because of better GP access, the research by academics at the universities of Manchester, Keele and Exeter concluded.

Rates of eating disorders and self-harming among children and young people, which had been rising before the pandemic, “increased substantially” between 2020 and 2022, the study found.

Over that period, around 2,700 diagnoses of eating disorders were anticipated among 13-16-year-olds, but 3,862 were actually observed, 42% more than expected.

In the same age group, 6,631 cases of self-harm were expected but 9,174 were recorded by GPs, 38% more than predicted. Among 17-19-year-olds eating disorders also rose above expectations.

The study concluded: “In summary, the incidence of primary care-recorded eating disorder diagnoses and self-harm episodes have substantially increased among teenage girls in the UK in the two years since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Although the causes are uncertain, early identification of mental health difficulties in all young people and timely access to treatments are crucial to prevent exacerbations of existing conditions.

“Sufficient access to and support from general practitioners and mental health services should be made available to meet the needs of the growing number of young people presenting to services,” it added.