Gross Britannia: Britain is Getting Fatter

Britain’s obesity crisis is getting worse, and the latest figures suggest younger adults are gaining weight faster than ever. According to the King’s Fund, obesity rates in England are now at record levels, with around 30% of adults living with obesity or severe obesity, roughly double the proportion seen in the early 1990s. Among 16 to 24-year-olds, the rise is even more striking. Around 18% are now obese or severely obese, compared with just 6% in 1993.Hence the title of this episode of Mark and Pete: Gross Britannia: Britain Is Getting Fatter.Cheerful stuff.But beneath the slightly rude title sits a serious question. What on earth has happened to us?This is not simply a matter of people becoming greedier, lazier, or somehow morally defective because they have discovered crisps. The environment around food has changed enormously. Ultra-processed food is cheap, convenient, heavily marketed and everywhere. Portion sizes have grown. Delivery apps can now bring a week's worth of calories to the front door before you've found your slippers. Many jobs involve sitting down all day, entertainment involves sitting down all evening, and even shopping can be done while remaining impressively horizontal.And then there is poverty, stress, sleep, mental health, childhood habits, lack of exercise, local environment and, increasingly, medication.The arrival of Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro has changed the obesity debate dramatically. These drugs can help some people lose significant amounts of weight and may prove enormously important medically. But do we really want the national plan to be: create an obesogenic culture, then inject everybody afterwards?That seems, well, slightly backwards.The King’s Fund says England has had 14 government obesity strategies since 1992, while obesity has continued to rise. There are now thought to be around 14 million adults in England living with obesity or severe obesity, with vast consequences for diabetes, heart disease, joint problems, NHS demand and public spending.So what should actually change?Do we regulate junk-food advertising more aggressively? Improve school meals? Make healthy food cheaper? Encourage walking and cycling? Teach cooking properly again? Restrict portion sizes? Tax sugar harder? Or is government already interfering quite enough in what people put on their plates?There is also the awkward personal question of self-control. Christianity treats the body as something significant, not disposable. Food is good. Feasting is good. Enjoyment is good. But being dominated by appetite is something else.So this episode asks what Britain should do about obesity without shaming people, pretending weight is simple, or handing responsibility entirely to either government or the individual.Because clearly what we are doing now is not working.