Indicator
Inequalities among adults who are overweight or obese
Published
5 June 2025
Last updated
23 October 2026
Time to read
About 2 mins
About 2 mins
Key Points
- In England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, more than 70% of adults in several population groups are overweight or living with obesity. This includes disabled adults in England and adults across several age groups.
- Across the UK, men are more likely than women to be overweight or living with obesity. The percentage of people who are overweight or living with obesity also tends to increase with age before falling among the oldest age groups.
- In Scotland, England and Wales, the percentage of people who are overweight or living with obesity is higher in the most deprived areas than in the least deprived areas.
Obesity can be caused by eating and drinking more than our body needs or not doing enough physical activity. Our environment also plays a role - for example through advertising and the availability of healthy or unhealthy foods. Our ability to make healthy choices can also be impacted by other pressures such as income, work and caring responsibilities.
This chart shows the percentage of adults classified as overweight or obese by different characteristics, in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
- In England, the percentage of disabled adults classified as overweight or obese is 73.2% compared to 62.3% of not disabled adults. The percentage of adults classified as overweight or obese is greatest in the North East of England (70.3%) and lowest in London (57.4%).
- In Scotland, the percentage of adults classified as overweight or obese is 68% for people with a limiting and non-limiting long-term illness or disability, compared to 63% for people with no long-term illness or disability.
- Inequalities by ethnicity must be interpreted with caution. While NHS England and NICE recommend lower obesity action thresholds for specific ethnic groups due to elevated metabolic risks, national data continues to apply a single, uniform BMI threshold to all populations. Consequently, the true percentage of Black, Asian, and other minoritised adults living with health-threatening obesity is significantly underestimated.
- Overweight and obesity data presented is assessed using body-mass-index (BMI), which is the widely used and accepted method, and is important for tracking changes in population overweight and obesity levels over time. BMI has well-known limitations, for example it does not take account for the distribution of fat. Not all breakdowns are available for each country. Where available, the latest data are presented for each country.
- Not all breakdowns are available for each country. Where available, the latest data is presented for each country.
- Each survey has its own sampling methodologies so results are only partially comparable. Different countries may use different characteristic definitions.
- Data for England are weighted estimates from the Active Lives Survey using adjusted self-reported height and weight. Disability is defined as reporting any physical or mental health conditions or illnesses or disabilities that last or are expected to last 12 months or more, and that limit someone’s ability to carry out day-to-day activities a lot.
- Data for Scotland are weighted estimates from the Scottish Health Survey using majority measured and some adjusted self-reported height and weight. For Scotland, the disability and ethnicity breakdowns cover the period 2008–11 and the age, sex and deprivation data refers to 2024. A long-standing illness or disability is defined as a physical or mental impairment, illness or disability which has or is expected to last 12 months or more. This is further split into limiting and non-limiting conditions, where limiting conditions mean that a person has some difficulties with day-to-day activities. Sample sizes are small for some ethnicities.
- Data for Wales are weighted estimates from Health Survey for Wales using self-reported height and weight. The use of self-report data only further impacts comparability of Welsh data with other countries.
- Data for Northern Ireland are weighted estimated from the Health Survey Northern Ireland using measured height and weight.
- Adult population refers to the 18+ population in England and the 16+ population in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
- Adults are classified as overweight or obese if their body-mass-index is greater than or equal to 25 kg/m2.
- Ethnicity groups used are those available in the data.
Source: Office for Health Improvement & Disparities, Fingertips, England, 2024/25; Scottish Government, Scottish Health Survey, 2024; Scottish Government, Scottish Health Survey - topic report: equality groups, 2012; Welsh Government, National Survey for Wales, 2022/23; Department of Health, Health Survey Northern Ireland 2024/25
