Source: NHS Digital – Health Survey for England, 2021
Notes:
- All young adults from core and boost samples in 2002 were included in analysis of those aged 16-24 but only the core sample was included in the overall total. It should therefore be noted that the ‘All Men’, ‘All Women’ and ‘All adults’ totals included in the Health Survey for England dataset are not the sum of the individual age groups.
- Data up to and including 2002 are unweighted; from 2003 onwards data have been weighted for non-response.
- All adults from core and boost samples in 2005 were included in analysis of 65-74 and 75+ age groups but only the core sample was included in the overall total. It should therefore be noted that the ‘All Men’, ‘All Women’ and ‘All adults’ totals included in the Health Survey for England dataset are not the sum of the individual age groups.
- BMI status (1993-2019): Underweight <18.5kg/m2; Healthy weight ≥18.5 to <25kg/m2; Overweight ≥25 to <30kg/m2; Obese, excluding morbidly obese ≥30 to <40 kg/m2; Morbidly obese ≥40kg/m2.
- Data on height and weight data was not collected in 2020. Data in 2021 were calculated using adjustments to self-reported height and weight. These adjustments were calculated using associations derived from HSE 2011-2016. The prediction equations used to calculate corrected values of height and weight are shown in Tables A1 and A2 of the Health Survey for England dataset. BMI status is presented only for three mutually exclusive groups (Not overweight nor obese: <25kg/m2; Overweight: ≥25 to <30kg/m2; Obese, including morbidly obese: ≥30kg/m2) in 2021 due to corrected data likely being less accurate at the low and high ends of the BMI scale.
| Key dates | |
|---|---|
| 2003 | 5-a-day campaign A nationwide campaign launched to encourage people to increase their consumption of fruit and vegetables to at least five portions per day. |
| 2009 | Change4Life campaign Launched by Public Health England, this was the country's first national social marketing campaign to tackle the causes of obesity. |
| 2011 | Healthy Lives, Healthy People: A call to action on obesity in England Announced the Government’s new national ambitions for a downward trend in excess weight in both children and adults by 2020. |
| 2018 | Soft Drinks Industry Levy Aimed to reduce sugar in soft drinks and tackle obesity. Known widely as the 'Sugar Tax'. |
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