WIREDGOV

New figures on obesity-related hospital admissions were published yesterday by NHS Digital.

Statistics on Obesity, Physical Activity and Diet, England, 2020 is an annual compendium of new information, including hospital admissions and prescription items, and previously published information such as obesity prevalence among adults and children.

Newly published statistics cover the number of Finished Admission Episodes¹ (FAEs) in 2018-19 where obesity was recorded as either a primary or secondary diagnosis², and obesity-related admissions³ for bariatric surgery over the same period. These are broken down by gender, age, Local Authority and Clinical Commissioning Group.

For the first time, this year’s publication also includes obesity-related hospital admissions broken down by level of deprivation⁴.

The report also contains the number of items prescribed to treat obesity in 2018-19.

Previously published figures cover:

• The prevalence of obesity in adults and children
• The proportion of adults and children meeting the government’s physical activity guidelines⁵
• The proportion of adults and children consuming the recommended five portions of fruit and vegetables a day
• Information on food and drink purchases and expenditure

Read the full report

Statistics on Obesity, Physical Activity and Diet, England

Related pages

Statistics on Obesity, Physical Activity and Diet, England, 2020

Notes for Editors

1. Taken from the Hospital Episode Statistics dataset. A finished admission episode (FAE) is the first period of inpatient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. FAEs are counted against the year in which the admission episode finishes. Admissions do not represent the number of inpatients, as a person may have more than one admission within the year.
2. A secondary diagnosis of obesity does not necessarily indicate obesity as a contributing factor for the admission but may instead indicate that obesity is a factor relevant to a patient's episode of care.
3. These figures are admissions with a primary diagnosis of obesity and a main or secondary procedure of bariatric surgery. They are based on finished consultant episodes (FCE) which is a continuous period of admitted patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider.
4. This data is based on the mapping of hospital admissions to Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) deciles. IMD deciles are based on 2019 deprivation scores for English lower super output areas produced by the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government
5. Adults (aged 19 and over) should aim to be active daily. Over a week, activity should add up to at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity activity in bouts of 10 minutes or more, or 75 minutes of vigorous intensity activity spread across the week. As published by the four UK Chief Medical Officers at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-physical-activity-guidelines. Children and young people (aged 5 to 18) should engage in moderate to vigorous intensity physical activity for at least 60 minutes and up to several hours every day.

NHS Digital is the national information and technology partner of the health and care system.  Our team of information analysis, technology and project management experts create, deliver and manage the crucial digital systems, services, products and standards upon which health and care professionals depend.  During the 2019-20 financial year, NHS Digital published 285 statistical reports. Our vision is to harness the power of information and technology to make health and care better.

For media enquiries please contact media@nhsdigital.nhs.net or telephone 0300 30 33 888. Follow us on Twitter: @NHSDigital