UK Obesity Rates: New Guidelines Reveal Alarming Disparities in Minoritised Ethnic Groups
A recent report by Nesta has shed light on the true scale of obesity rates in the UK, revealing significant disparities in minoritised ethnic groups. The report highlights that the use of outdated Body Mass Index (BMI) thresholds has led to a substantial underestimation of obesity rates among Black, Asian, and other minoritised ethnic groups.
According to Nesta, one of its key missions is to increase the number of healthy life years lived in the UK while narrowing health inequalities. To achieve this, the organisation aims to halve the prevalence of obesity by 2030. Understanding the true scale of the challenge is crucial to effectively reducing obesity and improving the nation’s health.
The report notes that BMI is widely used to assess health risks related to body weight and estimate obesity prevalence. However, national statistics have relied on the same BMI criteria to assess obesity in all ethnic groups, failing to account for the higher risk of weight-related health conditions faced by individuals from Black, Asian, and other minoritised ethnic groups at equivalent BMI levels compared to individuals from white backgrounds.
In response to these concerns, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) revised its BMI guidelines in 2023 and again in 2025, recommending lower BMI thresholds for overweight and obesity for adults from South Asian, Chinese, other Asian (Japanese, Korean, and Thai), Middle Eastern (Arab and Iranian), Black African or African-Caribbean backgrounds. NICE also recommended considering a waist-to-height ratio measurement for some individuals, which better captures variation in body composition and its impact on the risk of weight-related disease.
The Nesta analysis explores the impact of these updated guidelines on the prevalence of overweight and obesity in minoritised ethnic groups and on the population as a whole. The data, which references adults in England, reveals a significant increase in obesity rates among minoritised ethnic groups. Specifically, the report finds that:
- There is a rise from 60% to 76% in rates of excess weight (overweight and obesity) among adults from Black, Asian, and other minoritised ethnic groups.
- Excess weight prevalence among adults from white ethnic groups is 65%.
- This represents an absolute increase of: 13 percentage points (pp) in Black ethnic groups, 18 pp in Asian ethnic groups, and 12 pp in Arab ethnic groups.
- There is a rise from 64% to 67% in rates of excess weight across all adults.
The report also presents a bar chart, titled ‘Adult population living with overweight and obesity by ethnicity – Comparing different BMI thresholds’, which compares the percentage of the adult population living with overweight and obesity based on BMI thresholds that are either adjusted or not adjusted for ethnicity.
As Nesta notes, these results highlight a significant underestimation of obesity rates within many minoritised ethnic groups using old BMI thresholds. The organisation recommends that the revised NICE BMI thresholds are integrated into NHS and government national statistics, like the Health Survey for England, to more accurately measure obesity rates among different ethnic groups and at a population level, as well as to better understand and act on health inequalities between different groups.
The findings of the Nesta report have significant implications for public health policy and practice. By recognising the disparities in obesity rates among minoritised ethnic groups, policymakers and healthcare professionals can develop targeted interventions to address these inequalities and improve health outcomes for all.
In conclusion, the Nesta report highlights the need for a more nuanced understanding of obesity rates in the UK. By adopting the revised NICE BMI thresholds and waist-to-height ratio measurement, healthcare professionals and policymakers can work towards reducing health inequalities and improving health outcomes for all. As Nesta emphasises, it is crucial to integrate these revised thresholds into national statistics to ensure that the true scale of the challenge is understood and addressed.
