Hospital admissions where obesity is a factor increased by nearly 20% last year, NHS figures reveal.
The latest annual statistics on obesity from NHS Digital have shown there was an 18% increase in admissions where obesity was recorded as either a primary or secondary diagnosis in 2016/17.
In 2015/16, the figure stood at 525,000 and last year it increased to 617,000.
Out of the admissions recorded last year, 10,705 had obesity recorded as the main cause — an increase on 9,929 in 2015/16.
The figures revealed that women are particularly affected. Around two thirds of the admissions where obesity was recorded as either a primary or secondary diagnosis in 2016/17 were for women.
They also showed the prevalence of obesity almost doubles for women in the most deprived areas (38%) compared to the least deprived areas (20%).
