the health strategist
institute for continuous health transformation,
and digital health — for all
Joaquim Cardoso MSc.
Chief Research and Strategy Officer (CRSO),
Chief Editor and Senior Advisor
November 5, 2023
Observed variation in secondary care outcomes and burden of disease such as type 2 diabetes across patients of different socioeconomic backgrounds can be attributed to a wide range of factors.
One such indicator is prevalence of obesity, given that obesity, like smoking and alcohol consumption, can have wide ranging consequences on health.
Analysing the patient population in admitted patient care by the presence of an obesity diagnosis (ICD-10: E66) reveals a strong correlation between deprivation and rates of obesity,
- with patients in Quintile 1 (20% most deprived nationally) exhibiting higher rates of obesity (12.0% of patients)
- than the 20% least deprived patients (8.0% of patients).
Indeed, there is a linear relationship between obesity diagnosis rates in secondary care and deprivation quintile.
Economic concerns such as the cost of living crisis threaten to drive up this disparity further, as food insecurity is a risk factor strongly associated with obesity rates owing to poor quality diets.
