Improving diets is the single largest impact you can have on public health.
Poor diets are the largest cause of death in the UK. Non-communicable diseases account for 89% of UK deaths, and almost all are linked to diet; some are obvious such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes and stroke, but diet is also implicated in dementia and is the leading cause of cancer in the UK, ahead of smoking. What we eat has become the biggest risk factor for preventable disease.
Improving diets alone could increase UK life expectancy by 10 years, according to a study in the BMJ
Diabetes alone accounts for almost 10% of the NHS’s costs and this is rising
Overall costs of diet related disease to the UK are estimated to cost the UK £74bn – this is around 40% of the NHS’s annual budget. Recent, more detailed studies put the cost of excess weight alone (not including other dietary impacts) at £100bn.
And this is worse for people in poverty.
People in poverty suffer from a nutritional inequality that impacts when they die; how long they can expect to live without a major health condition, their mental health, finances and family life.
25% of observed inequalities in UK mortality are due to inequalities in diet (one of the largest cause of health inequalities)
People in poverty eat demonstrably worse diets with 78% ultra processed foods – not helped by food banks
Healthy life expectancy for the bottom decile is 19 years lower than the top decile
For years people thought diet was all about obesity. We now know it’s much more than that
Quality of diet is linked not only to obesity but to a range of other health outcomes, independent of obesity. For example, we know that a diet high in ultraprocessed foods leads to a 37% increased risk of Type II diabetes, 29% increased risk of cardiovascular disease and a 20% increased risk of depression, and is linked to a wide range of other significant health impacts including early death. The link to Type II diabetes – known as a “gateway disease” as it often precedes and complicates other long term health conditions, is independent of obesity.
From almost nothing 10 years ago, the research showing the impact on diet and mental health is building. A powerful randomised control trial, the SMILES Trial, on participants with major depression, showed that improving diet alone has as strong an effect as our best drugs for depression, with only positive side effects.
Diet is not only about nutrition
It impacts many other things – whether your family eat together and family cohesion; how you socialise with friends, your sense of control and agency over your life, and the cost of what you eat impacts many other life choices. Many of these things also affect mental health, so diet has a magnified impact on mental health that goes beyond the biochemical impacts.