Official Statistics

Obesity profile: short statistical commentary, May 2025

Published 7 May 2025

Applies to England

What’s new

The following indicators have been updated:

• overweight (including obesity) prevalence in adults (aged 18 and over)

• obesity prevalence in adults (aged 18 and over)

• percentage of physically active adults (aged 19 and over)

• percentage of physically inactive adults (aged 19 and over)

• percentage of adults aged 16 and over meeting the ‘5-a-day’ fruit and vegetable consumption recommendations (new method)

• percentage of adults walking for travel at least 3 days per week

• percentage of adults cycling for travel at least 3 days per week

Introduction

This statistical commentary provides information for England on the updated indicators in the Fingertips obesity profile for adults on:

• overweight and obesity prevalence
• physical activity and inactivity
• consumption of 5 or more portions of fruit and vegetables per day

These indicators are used to provide local level data for the Public Health Outcomes Framework (PHOF). There are more robust data sources available for national level estimates as detailed in the ‘Further information’ section below.

Obesity is a global and complex public health concern. It is associated with reduced life expectancy and is a risk factor for a range of chronic diseases, including cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, cancer, liver, and respiratory disease. It can also impact on mental health.

Regular physical activity is associated with a reduced risk of diabetes, obesity, osteoporosis, colon and breast cancer, and improved mental health. In older adults, physical activity is associated with a greater ability to perform everyday tasks. Inactivity is doing less than 30 moderate intensity equivalent (MIE) minutes of physical activity per week. Being physically active is doing at least 150 MIE minutes of physical activity per week.

Fruit and vegetables are part of a balanced diet and can help the public stay healthy. Evidence shows there are significant health benefits to getting at least 5 portions of a variety of fruit and vegetables every day. Understanding the trends in the data enables us to make the case for national and local action, and develop approaches to create health-promoting environments.

The obesity profile also includes data on inequalities for these indicators, displaying data by index of multiple deprivation decile, ethnic group, working status, disability, level of education, socioeconomic class, age and sex.

Main findings

Prevalence of overweight and obesity in adults (aged 18 years and over)

In 2023 to 2024, 64.5% of adults aged 18 years and over in England were estimated to be overweight or living with obesity. This is higher than 2022 to 2023 (64.0%) with an overall upward trend since 2015 to 2016 (61.2%). In 2023 to 2024, 26.5% of adults were estimated to be living with obesity. This is similar to 2022 to 2023 (26.2%) but, as with the prevalence of overweight (including obesity), there has been an upward trend since 2015 to 2016 (22.6%).

In 2023 to 2024, the prevalence of overweight (including obesity) in adults was higher among men (69.7%) than women (59.2%), while the prevalence of obesity in adults was higher among women (26.9%) than men (26.2%).

Prevalence of overweight (including obesity) and obesity increases with age up to age 64, reaching the peak in the 55 to 64 years group (73.5% and 32.5% respectively) then decreasing in the 65 to 74 years and older groups.

Across the upper tier local authorities in England, there was a 34.6 percentage point gap in prevalence of overweight (including obesity) between areas with the highest and lowest prevalence, ranging from 42.6% to 77.2%. Prevalence of obesity ranged from 11.0% to 37.9%, a 26.9 percentage point gap.

Prevalence of overweight and obesity in adults (aged 18 years and over) by deprivation and ethnicity

Prevalence of overweight (including obesity) and obesity is highest in those living in the most deprived areas (71.2% and 37.4% respectively) and lowest in those living in the least deprived areas (59.4% and 19.8% respectively) (Figure 1).

Figure 1: prevalence of overweight and obesity in adults (aged 18 years and over) by lower layer super output area (LSOA) deprivation decile

Deprivation decile	Overweight (including obesity) prevalence (%)	Obesity prevalence (%)
1 – least deprived decile	59.4	19.8
2	62.2	22.8
3	63.2	24.1
4	63.6	25.1
5	63.4	25.6
6	65.8	27.2
7	65.2	28.2
8	66.3	29.4
9	68.9	33.8
10 – most deprived decile	71.2	37.4

Source: Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID), based on Sport England Active Lives Adult Survey data.

When looking at different ethnic groups, the prevalence of overweight (including obesity) and obesity in adults remains highest among those who identified as Black (73.4% and 33.1% respectively) or White British (65.7% and 27.8% respectively).

Physical activity and inactivity in adults (aged 19 years and over)

In England in 2023 to 2024, 67.4% of adults were physically active. This is similar to 2022 to 2023 (67.1%), but higher than 2015 to 2016 (66.1%). In 2023 to 2024, 22.0% of adults were inactive which is lower than 2022 to 2023 (22.6%) but similar to 2015 to 2016 (22.3%).

Women are less likely to be physically active than men (64.9% compared to 70.1%) and are more likely to be inactive than men (23.2% compared to 20.5%).

The proportion of physically active adults decreases with age: adults aged 19 to 24 years are the most physically active (72.6%) decreasing to 56.2% and 32.4% in adults aged 75 to 84 years and 85 and over respectively. The proportion of adults who are physically inactive is highest in the 75 to 84 (31.6%) and 85 and over (54.4%) age groups and much lower among adults aged between 19 and 64 where the range is from 18.0% to 20.8%.

Physical activity and inactivity in adults (aged 19 years and over) by deprivation and ethnicity

In the most deprived areas 53.8% of adults are physically active compared with 75.1% of adults living in the least deprived areas, while 35.3% are inactive in the most deprived areas compared with 15.1% in the least deprived areas (Figure 2).

Figure 2: percentage of physically active and inactive adults (aged 19 years and over) by LSOA deprivation decile

Deprivation decile	Physical activity (%)	Physical inactivity (%)
1 – least deprived decile	75.1	15.1
2	72.0	17.4
3	71.2	18.1
4	70.3	18.6
5	69.6	20.2
6	67.4	22.2
7	66.6	23.2
8	62.1	26.6
9	59.1	29.9
10 – most deprived decile	53.8	35.3

Source: OHID, based on Sport England Active Lives Adult Survey data.

Physical activity is highest in Mixed (71.2%), White British (69.5%) and White other (68.9%) ethnic groups, and lowest in Asian (55.9%) and Black (56.8%) ethnic groups. Inactivity is highest in Asian (32.1%), Black (29.9%) and Other (28.2%) ethnic groups and lowest in White British (20.1%), White other (20.8%) and Mixed (18.1%) ethnic groups.

Adults (aged 16 years and over) eating at least 5 portions of fruit and vegetables a day

In England in 2023 to 2024, 31.3% of adults reported eating at least 5 portions of fruit and vegetables a day. This is similar to 2022 to 2023 when 31.0% of adults reported eating at least 5 portions, and lower than 2021 to 2022 (32.5%) and 2020 to 2021 (34.9%). Comparable data is not available prior to 2020 to 2021.

In England in 2023 to 2024 women were more likely than men to eat at least 5 portions of fruit and vegetables a day (34.8% compared with 27.6%). Adults aged 55 years and over were more likely to eat at least 5 portions of fruit and vegetables (35.8% and higher) than those aged under 55 years.

Adults (aged 16 years and over) eating at least 5 portions of fruit and vegetables a day by deprivation and ethnicity

In the least deprived areas, 38.6% of adults reported eating at least 5 portions of fruit and vegetables a day compared with 20.0% of adults living in the most deprived areas.

Figure 3: percentage of adults (aged 16 years and over) eating at least 5 portions of fruit and vegetables a day by LSOA deprivation decile

Deprivation decile	Percentage
1 – least deprived decile	38.6
2	35.8
3	35.2
4	34.6
5	32.4
6	32.2
7	29.2
8	25.3
9	22.9
10 – most deprived decile	20.0

Source: OHID, based on Sport England Active Lives Adult Survey data.

Lower proportions of Asian and Black adults reported eating at least 5 portions of fruit and vegetables a day (18.4% and 18.5% respectively). The proportion is highest among White British adults (33.8%).

Further information

The indicators published in the obesity profile present local authority estimates from Sport England’s Active Lives Adult Survey (ALAS) data to help inform local action to improve the health of the population now and in the future. A detailed description of the methods used to produce the indicators can be found in the definitions data view of the indicators in the obesity profile.

Data on adult overweight and obesity prevalence

The best indicator of obesity prevalence for adults at a national level comes from the Health Survey for England (HSE), which uses measured height and weight to calculate body mass index (BMI). However, the survey sample size is not sufficient to produce robust estimates at local level.

The indicators presented in the obesity profile use self-reported height and weight from the ALAS which are adjusted so that they more accurately predict measured values.

The 2023 to 2024 obesity prevalence of 26.5% is lower than the latest available estimates from the 2022 HSE (28.9%) which uses measured height and weight.

Data on physical activity

The Health Survey for England is the best source for physical activity data at a national level. The HSE allows for comparison over a longer time period, providing data for 2012, 2016 and 2021. The HSE also provides a more complete summary of activity levels as it includes physical activity while at work and other non-occupational activities such as housework, manual work and DIY activities. It also includes activities covered by ALAS such as gardening, walking, and sports and exercise.

More information and the physical activity data from the HSE is published in the adult physical activity chapter of the HSE 2021 report.

Data on fruit and vegetable consumption

National estimates of fruit and vegetable consumption are available from the Health Survey for England and the National Diet and Nutrition Survey (NDNS), which are both more comprehensive in their questions than the ALAS. The survey sample sizes for these surveys are not sufficient to provide local authority level estimates.

For the HSE, participants are asked numerous questions, including separate questions about fruits, vegetables and pulses, and portion sizes rather than the single-item question in the ALAS.

For the NDNS, data is collected using food diaries. Foods are then broken down to their component parts and fruit and vegetable portions are calculated.

These differences are included in the indicator source section of the Public Health Outcomes Framework.

For queries relating to this document, please contact: pha-ohid@dhsc.gov.uk.