Other Countries | Further Reading
NB: Additional key facts for England are available on the Web page www.oecd.org/health/fitnotfat. The data reported in the latter are based on analyses presented in the recent OECD report “Obesity and the economics of prevention: Fit not fat”, which include additional prevention programmes and whose results are in national currency and USD Purchasing Power Parities, rather than USD.
1. Obesity rates in the United Kingdom are the highest in Europe. Two in 3 men and more than 1 in 2 women are overweight in the United Kingdom. One in 4 people are obese.
Overweight rates in analyzed countries and OECD (adults)
Underlying data and charts for all the graphics below are also available in Excel
2. Up to 13 000 life years could be gained through individual prevention programmes in England every year. When effects on disability are accounted for, interventions can save up to 26 000 years of life in good health (DALYs).
Health outcomes at the population level (average effect per year)
3. How much does prevention cost? How much does it save? Most prevention programmes would cost up to US$ 120 m every year, with individual counselling by family doctors costing up to US$ 482 m. Most prevention programmes will cut health expenditures for chronic diseases, but only by a relatively small margin (up to US$ 58 m per year).
Economic Assessment of the Interventions at the Population Level (Average Effect per Year)
4. Is prevention cost-effective? Prevention can improve health at a lower cost than many treatments offered today by health systems. In England, all of the prevention programmes examined will be cost-effective in the long run (i.e. 100 years) – relative to the commonly used standard of US$ 50 000 per year of life gained in good health. However, some programmes, e.g. shool-based interventions, will take longer to produce their health effects and therefore will be less cost-effective in the short run.
Cost per life year gained in good health of interventions to tackle obesity
5. Up to 63 000 life years could be gained through a combination of prevention programmes in England every year. Combining several interventions to tackle unhealthy diet and physical inactivity is an efficient way of improving population health. The cost-effectiveness ratio of a prevention strategy including a mass media campaign, food taxes and subsidies, nutritional labelling and marketing restrictions would be US$ 14 000 per life year gained in good health (DALY).
Cost-effectiveness and effectiveness (average effect per year) of a comprehensive prevention strategy
Obesity and the Economics of Prevention: Fit not Fat
The Economics of Prevention
Key Health Publications
Key Analytical Health Projects
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