Nearly a third of adults in England live with obesity – with inequalities widening since COVID-19

Craig Brierley This study is the first to analyse obesity trends from 2019 to 2025, using NHS England electronic health records covering nearly 55 million adults. The scale and detail in the data allowed the researchers to gain new insights into how rates of obesity differ by sex, age, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, and geographical region. Robert Fletcher, a PhD candidate at the Department of Public Health and Primary Care, University of Cambridge, Health Data Research UK and The George Institute, and study co-lead said: “Levels of obesity in England have worsened since the pandemic, with nearly one in three people now affected.