В Великобритании объявлена национальная чрезвычайная ситуация из-за роста ожирения и падения здорового долголетия

The health of the nation is poor and getting worse. Healthy life expectancy – the number of years a person lives in good health, free from disability or illness that impair health and wellbeing – is falling (Office for National Statistics, 2026). Men living in the UK will have 18 years of their lives marred by ill health; women will experience 23 years of life-limiting ill health (Office for National Statistics, 2026). Ill health is not confined to older people. Younger people – those aged under 50 – are ageing more rapidly than before and developing cancers earlier (Tian et al, 2026). This accelerated ageing, ill health and increased cancer is thought to be driven partly by rising levels of obesity. Obesity leads to chronic low-grade inflammation, and it is thought that this increases the risk of cancer and accelerates the ageing process (Tian et al, 2026). Obesity levels in England are rising most quickly in younger adults; between 2019 and 2025, they rose by 19% in people aged 30-39 and 16% in people aged 20-29 (Fletcher et al, 2026). Obesity is associated with ethnicity and socioeconomic deprivation. In terms of ethnicity, in England, obesity is highest among Black and Asian people (Fletcher et al, 2026). People who are socioeconomically deprived are likely to live in “obesogenic environments”, where factors negatively influence nutrition and physical activity (Fletcher et al, 2026). Many factors contribute to the obesogenic environment, including: - The availability of affordable healthy food, safe walking and cycling infrastructure and sports facilities; - Culture and traditions; - Media influence; - Regulatory environments (how governments act to control how food is marketed and sold); - Work environments, such as back-to-back computer-based meetings and eating at one’s desk. Obesity drives more than 200 diseases, including cancers, diabetes and heart failure. We have historically treated these one at a time, rather than viewing obesity as a disease itself (Chandiwana et al, 2025). Obesity and associated ill health have real consequences that affect people’s lives and impact on the NHS’s ability to deliver quality treatment and care. The obese person who has hypertension, type 2 diabetes, declining renal function, cardiovascular problems and venous disease is not experiencing the best-possible quality of life and, unfortunately, growing numbers of people have these problems (Fletcher et al, 2026). Obesity costs the UK £107bn a year; £9bn of that is healthcare costs (Office for Life Sciences et al, 2026). “Lifestyle changes, unlike the powerful medicines that we use to treat obesity, do not come with debilitating side-effects” There are government policies and strategies that aim to improve the health of the nation, but these are not working. Things are getting worse, not better. One of the triumphs of modern medicine is that people are living longer; one of the tragedies of modern medicine is that those years can be marred by disability and disease that prevent people from living a full life (Office for National Statistics, 2026). Medicine does not have all of the answers, and we cannot medicate our way out of the obesity crisis. We need to look at lifestyle. Lifestyle changes are generally low-cost and, unlike the powerful medicines that we use to treat obesity, do not come with side-effects that can be debilitating. I believe that we need to declare obesity a national health emergency and to treat it in the same way as we did AIDS and Covid-19. We need massive publicity about the dangers of obesity; we need to educate and support people to enable them to maintain a healthy body weight. We need to help people who are overweight and obese to lose weight and improve their health. Obesity is not just a health issue: it’s an issue that affects all of society, and we need a strategy to address all of the contributory factors. This strategy should include the way cities and buildings are designed, and the way we work and how to encourage activity within workplaces. The UK as a nation can learn from other countries where obesity is rare. The time for tinkering around the edges of this life-threatening and life-changing crisis is over. We need radical action to restore the health of the nation. Linda Nazarko is specialist frailty nurse References Chandiwana N et al (2025) Obesity is a disease: global health policy must catch up. The Lancet Global Health; 13: 10, e1659-e1660. Fletcher RA et al (2026) Whole-population trends in obesity across dimensions of inequality in England, 2019-25: a retrospective, longitudinal cohort study of 54 million adults. The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology; 2213-8587. Office for Life Sciences et al (2026) Obesity Healthcare Goals. gov.uk, 28 May (accessed 4 August 2026). Office for National Statistics (2026) Healthy life expectancy, UK: between 2011 to 2013 and 2022 to 2024. ons.gov.uk, 19 February (accessed 3 August 2026). Tian R et al (2026) Biological aging and generational shifts in early-onset cancer risk. Nature Medicine; 10.1038/s41591-026-04448-w.