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Health and safetyLettersOccupational HealthWellbeing

Data contradicts assertions on obesity and illness rates

by Personnel Today 8 Oct 2007
by Personnel Today 8 Oct 2007

While Richard Essery is entitled to his view that overweight employees are not less productive and more susceptible to illness, this is not supported by research (‘Lack of vital statistics leads to fattist thinking’, Letters, Personnel Today, 11 September).

A number of authoritative studies from sources including the British Heart Foundation clearly demonstrate the link between obesity and secondary illnesses such as heart disease, diabetes and back problems. For example, according to the National Audit Office, obesity results in more than 18 million sick days a year.

And the Kings Fund recently revealed that future obesity levels for the UK will be higher than originally predicted, which will have a significant impact on the nation’s health and wealth.

Chris Jessop
Chief executive,
Nuffield Proactive Health

Personnel Today
Personnel Today

Personnel Today articles are written by an expert team of award-winning journalists who have been covering HR and L&D for many years. Some of our content is attributed to "Personnel Today" for a number of reasons, including: when numerous authors are associated with writing or editing a piece; or when the author is unknown (particularly for older articles).

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