{"id":497736,"date":"2025-10-14T03:08:19","date_gmt":"2025-10-14T03:08:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/497736\/"},"modified":"2025-10-14T03:08:19","modified_gmt":"2025-10-14T03:08:19","slug":"scotlands-spiralling-obesity-crisis-could-see-3-3-million-overweight-by-2040","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/497736\/","title":{"rendered":"Scotland’s spiralling obesity crisis could see 3.3 MILLION overweight by 2040"},"content":{"rendered":"

Scotland\u2019s obesity crisis is a risk of \u2018spiralling\u2019 as medics warn that 3.3 million adults \u2013 more than half the population – will be overweight by 2040.<\/p>\n

Researchers estimate that in the next 15 years there will be a surge in people piling on the pounds with 1.6million of those overweight classed as obese.<\/p>\n

This includes an extra 118,000 women and 36,000 men who are predicted to see their Body Mass Index (BMI) rise to 30 or above \u2013 substantially higher than the healthy BMI range of 18.5 to 24.9.<\/p>\n

The findings by Public Health Scotland (PHS) have been branded \u2018deeply worrying\u2019 as critics call on the Scottish Government to address the situation before the country\u2019s NHS<\/a>, which is \u2018already at breaking point\u2019, is swamped with more \u2018unsustainable pressures\u2019.<\/p>\n

Only this summer food standards watchdogs warned that levels of obesity and type 2 diabetes<\/a> were on the rise as the country lags behind the rest of the UK in implementing measures to address unhealthy eating habits as it faces some of the \u2018poorest diet-related health outcomes\u2019 in Europe.<\/p>\n

Liver and heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, asthma and cancer<\/a> are all linked to obesity, which is significantly higher in more deprived areas.<\/p>\n

Claire Hislop, food and physical activity organisational lead at PHS, said: \u2018The time for incremental change is over. The evidence shows we must accelerate progress on bold, preventative measures that reshape the food environment and ensure healthier options are accessible, affordable and widely available.<\/p>\n

\u2018At the same time, we must strengthen comprehensive weight management and support services to improve the health and wellbeing of the people of Scotland.\u2019<\/p>\n

\"Researchers <\/p>\n

Researchers estimate that there will be a huge increase in overweight Scots in the next 15 years<\/p>\n

\"Jenni <\/p>\n

Jenni Minto, Minister for Public Health and Women’s Health said the Scottish Government will legislate to make food healthier<\/p>\n

Scotland\u2019s obesity rate is already one of the highest in Europe with the most up-to-date figures suggesting that as many as one in three Scots (32 per cent) are obese – the highest level on record.<\/p>\n

Scottish Conservative shadow cabinet minister for public health Brian Whittle said the\u2019 alarming forecast\u2019 was \u2018a damning indictment of the SNP\u2019s government\u2019s failures in healthcare, education and how they have done little to promote active lifestyles\u2019.<\/p>\n

He added: \u2018It will also raise concern that if this transpires more pressure will be piled on an NHS already at breaking point after 18 years of SNP mismanagement.\u2019<\/p>\n

Robin Ireland, interim head at Obesity Action Scotland also warned that more needs to be done.<\/p>\n

He said: \u2018The latest figures on the numbers of adults projected to be living with excess weight in Scotland by 2040 are disturbing and should be of great concern.<\/p>\n

\u2018If we are to seek to address them with any hope of success, we must focus our efforts on prevention and our children in particular, as it is their future health we should be considering now.<\/p>\n

\u2018We must do our utmost to ensure that our schools and neighbourhoods provide accessible nutritious food choices whilst protecting Scotland\u2019s children and young people from the advertising of unhealthy food and drink brands.\u2019<\/p>\n

The study by PHS, in collaboration with Sciensano, the federal research institute for public and animal health in Belgium, analysed data from the Scottish Health Survey, to predict future obesity rates among Scotland\u2019s to tackle obesity among Scotland\u2019s 4.6million adults.<\/p>\n

It found that without \u2018urgent and sustained intervention\u2019 the number of men who are overweight will continue to increase until 2030 with projections slowly declining after a peak. Researchers, however, say the estimates for 2040 remain higher than in 2019 when almost two-thirds of Scots were overweight.<\/p>\n

More than half (61 per cent) the cases for overweight women are also predicted to occur by 2030, which will \u2018continue at a reduced rate\u2019 towards 2040.<\/p>\n

Dr Grant Wyper, Principal Epidemiologist at PHS, said: \u2018Our findings highlight the stark challenge ahead. We estimate 3.3 million cases of adult excess weight by 2040, with more pronounced increases for obesity. Between 2025 and 2040, we estimate an additional 118,000 female and 36,000 male cases of obesity.<\/p>\n

\u2018Furthermore, recent increases in excess weight among adults aged 65 and above are projected to intensify towards 2040, signalling growing and more complex pressures on Scotland\u2019s health and social care systems in the coming decades.\u2019<\/p>\n

He said the report should be seen as a \u2018clear warning\u2019 but stressed the projections were \u2018not inevitable\u2019 and delivering on the government\u2019s Population Health Framework priority to tackle the crisis was \u2018vital\u2019.<\/p>\n

He added: \u2018Excess weight is linked to a wide range of health conditions, including premature death, meaning that our findings point to the risk of future adverse impacts on population health and unsustainable pressure on healthcare services.\u2019<\/p>\n

Vanessa Hebditch, Director of Policy at the British Liver Trust warned that obesity was a \u2018major driver\u2019 of fatty liver disease, also known as metabolic dysfunction\u2013associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), which is now the fastest-growing cause of liver disease in the UK.<\/p>\n

Affecting around one in five adults in Britian, she said the vast majority of those who have it are overweight or living with obesity.<\/p>\n

She added: \u2018Rising obesity rates mean many more people will be at risk of liver damage in the years ahead, putting further pressure on already overstretched healthcare services. If left untreated, MASLD can progress to a liver cirrhosis, which can lead to liver failure and potentially require a liver transplant.<\/p>\n

\u2018We urgently need bold, joined-up action to tackle the root causes of obesity. That means ensuring access to affordable, healthy food, creating environments that support active living, and providing early identification and support for those at risk.\u2019<\/p>\n

Scottish Liberal Democrat health spokesman Alex Cole-Hamilton said the figures, published in the journal Public Health present a \u2018very disturbing picture\u2019 adding that it was important the government takes \u2018decisive action now to stop things from spiralling\u2019.<\/p>\n

He said: \u2018That includes recognising the merits of weight-loss medication and supporting people to make informed choices about dodging junk food and taking up exercise.\u2019<\/p>\n

Public Health Minister Jenni Minto said the Scottish Government\u2019s Reformulation for Health programme \u2018has removed hundreds of millions of calories from food and drink over recent years\u2019.<\/p>\n

She said: \u2018We set out in June, as part of our Population Health Framework, that we will legislate to make the balance of foods available on promotion healthier, in line with equivalent policy in England and Wales.<\/p>\n

\u2018We are taking wide-ranging action to support people to make healthier food choices, recognising the contribution which poor diet makes to worsening health trends.\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Scotland\u2019s obesity crisis is a risk of \u2018spiralling\u2019 as medics warn that 3.3 million adults \u2013 more than…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":497737,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5009],"tags":[748,92,4884,12,712,10004,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-497736","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-scotland","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-dailymail","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-scotland","13":"tag-snp","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115370321906102061","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/497736","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=497736"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/497736\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/497737"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=497736"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=497736"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=497736"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}