Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Wednesday, Oct 08, 2025

Over a million hospital admissions for obesity

Over a million hospital admissions for obesity

There were more than a million hospital admissions for obesity-related treatment in England in the year leading into the global pandemic, figures reveal.

The record number provides the clearest indication yet of the scale of the obesity problem as coronavirus started to spread across the UK.

Being overweight is one of the most significant risk factors for severe Covid.

Experts say the data should be a wake-up call for tackling obesity.

Main cause


The figures, published by NHS Digital, show a 17% increase in hospital admissions where obesity was a factor, compared with the year before.

This amounts to almost 150,000 more instances of people being admitted to hospital over the course of a year.

The number of admissions where obesity was recorded as the main cause actually fell to 10,780 last year, from 11,117 in 2018-19.

But this is mainly due to a fall in the number of bariatric surgeries (including gastric bands and bypasses) being performed.

Women accounted for two-thirds (64%) of admissions where obesity was a factor.

Killing people


Naveed Sattar, professor of metabolic medicine, at the University of Glasgow, says obesity is "the strongest risk factor for [Type 2] diabetes".

"It's a strong risk factor for heart disease, for heart failure, for lung disease, for kidney disease, for multiple other conditions," he says.

"If we now add to that obesity is a strong risk factor for this acute viral pandemic which is killing people worldwide, then... this is a wake-up call.

"Many health systems and government really do now need to pay attention to obesity.

"We do need to tackle obesity and we need to take it seriously."


'They told me I could die'

At his heaviest, Phil Skeates weighed 25 stone (159kg).

And when he developed coronavirus, last year, he ended up needing intensive care.

"It was horrible," Mr Skeates says.

"I was blue-lighted.

"As I was taken out of the house, I said goodbye to my wife.

"I was crying my eyes out in the ambulance.

"It was heartbreaking.

"My thoughts were I may not see her again.

"They'd actually told me if I caught Covid, there was every chance that I would die."

"On the ward, I saw two people pass away.

"It was a massive massive point.

"It really made me think I need to address this."

Phil has now lost more than six stone.

"I paid the price," he says.

"I've come through it and I'm not going back."

Scientists are still trying to understand why the coronavirus poses such a risk to those significantly overweight.

Prof Sattar says there is some evidence heavier people have a higher viral load or more virus in their bodies than others and the virus triggers a dangerous response by the immune system.

"There may be a critical interaction between fat cells and the immune response which increases the likelihood of that immune response being exaggerated and harmful," he says.

"We also know that people who are heavier have thicker blood to begin with, and this hyper-response thickens the blood even more.

"So the likelihood is that this thickness will clot off blood vessels and block blood vessels.

"People who are overweight, effectively have less capacity to deal with the damage Covid causes."

And for many people, the pandemic has led to weight gain, early evidence suggests.

NHS England medical director Professor Stephen Powis said: "Today's shocking figures are a growing sign of the nation's obesity crisis which is putting hundreds of thousands of people at greater risk of becoming severely ill with Covid, as well as heart attacks, stroke, cancer and other deadly diseases".


This is a real concern, Susan Jebb, professor of diet and population, at Oxford University, says.

"People have gained 2-3kg but that is very unevenly spread - some people have gained much more," she says.

"And it seems to be a particular problem for women, for younger people and for those living in deprived areas."

Junk-food adverts


Pressure is piling on the government to take radical action to address the obesity problem.

Last month, doctors, academics, campaigners and public-sector experts wrote to the prime minister, urging him to stick to a landmark government proposal to ban junk-food advertising online and on social media - after fears it could be ditched.

The government says it has a clear plan to introduce a ban on junk-food adverts on television before 21:00.

It has now finished a consultation with industry and how far it is prepared to go with restrictions online will be revealed in the next few weeks.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Wave of Complaints Against Apple Over iPhone 17 Pro’s Scratch Sensitivity
Syria Holds First Elections Since Fall of Assad
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
UK, Canada, and Australia Officially Recognise Palestine in Historic Shift
New Eye Drops Show Promise in Replacing Reading Glasses for Presbyopia
Dubai Property Boom Shows Strain as Flippers Get Buyer’s Remorse
Top AI Researchers Are Heading Back to China as U.S. Struggles to Keep Pace
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
UAE-US Stargate Project Poised to Make Abu Dhabi a Global AI Powerhouse
Trump and Starmer Clash Over UK Recognition of Palestinian State Amid State Visit
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Kuwait opens bidding for construction of three cities to ease housing crunch.
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Qatari prime minister says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Big Oil Slashes Jobs and Investments Amid Prolonged Low Crude Prices
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Did the Houthis disrupt the internet in the Middle East? Submarine cables cut in the Red Sea
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Iran Faces Escalating Water Crisis as Protests Spread
More Than Half a Million Evacuated as Typhoon Kajiki Heads for Vietnam
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
×