Bad UK diets ‘cost NHS as much as smoking and alcohol’

The cost of treating illnesses related to bad diets in the NHS is almost as high as the total combined cost of addressing illnesses caused by smoking and alcohol consumption.

This is according to a report conducted by the University of Oxford and funded by the British Heart Foundation (BHF), showing that conditions linked to unhealthy eating habits cost the UK health service 5.8 billion pounds annually.

By comparison, smoking and alcohol-related illnesses were estimated to cost 3.3 billion each in the research, which was published in the Journal of Public Health.

It was also noted that up to 80 per cent of heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes cases could be avoided by eliminating lifestyle risk factors, as well as a third of cancers.

Senior BHF nurse Cathy Ross said a change in behaviours would help to lighten the current burden on an "already overstretched NHS budget".

Earlier this month, the organisation warned that abdominal obesity can be a significant risk factor for patients with coronary heart disease, even if their overall weight is normal.