One in ten adults at risk of obesity

London: Almost one in ten adults is now so obese their GP considers their weight a serious risk to their health.

More than 5.5 million over-16s are officially on the obesity register kept by GPs — up by a quarter of a million in the past year alone.

And almost 2.8 million people are being treated for Type 2 diabetes, a disease strongly linked to a sedentary lifestyle and an unhealthy diet. Experts said the "shocking" rise was a wake-up call for people to change their lifestyle before it is too late. Obesity rates have been rising inexorably for several decades, but have accelerated in recent years.

According to the Office for National Statistics, a quarter of the population is defined as obese as measured by Body Mass Index, based on weight and height. However, this may also classify heavily-muscled athletes as obese when they are far from unhealthy.

Serious risk

It is the proportion actually registered by GPs as being obese that gives a truer indication of those at most serious risk to their health.

The figures, collated by the charity Diabetes UK, show rises throughout the UK in obesity. The biggest jump was in England where there was a 5.5 per cent rise between 2008/9 and 2009/10, up from 4,389,964 to 4,634,408.

Similar rises in the figures, which GPs have only been pressured to record over the past two years, were found in other parts of the UK.

At the same time GPs registered an additional 150,648 patients with Type 2 diabetes in the UK, a 4 per cent rise which takes the total to almost 2.8 million. This means one in 20 of the population is being treated for diabetes and one in ten for obesity.

In many cases Type 2 diabetes, the "lifestyle" form of the disease can be prevented with a healthy weight, taking regular exercise and eating a balanced diet rich in fruit and vegetables but low in fat, sugar and salt.

Income

Practice income for GPs is linked to the quality of care for diabetics, with around £5,000 (Dh29,000) per GP available to those who get the best rates for control of blood sugar and blood pressure. Dr Ian Campbell, medical director of the charity Weight Concern, said the latest figures underestimated the true level of obesity and diabetes because many thousands were not on GP registers.

Simon O'Neill, of Diabetes UK, said: "Once again we see a shocking rise in diabetes and obesity rates in the UK. Many, but not all, people develop Type 2 diabetes because they are overweight or obese so we must keep up the mantra of five fruit and veg a day, encourage daily physical activity and warn of the potentially devastating consequences of an unhealthy lifestyle."