Why employers need to take action on the Obesity Crisis

Colorful macaron skyline against a vibrant blue background, showcasing sweet treats in various shapes and sizes.

One day we’ll look back on our present food environment with the same amazement that we currently have when we consider our public spaces before the smoking ban was introduced 18 years ago. 

It will seem unthinkable that we allowed our shelves to be saturated with ultraprocessed foods (UPFs) that we know make us sick. Just as we now can’t believe it was ‘normal’ for our pubs and public transport to be filled with cigarette fumes. We will especially wince at doing this to our children.

These are the predictions/hopes of Dr Dolly van Tulleken, an obesity policy specialist who campaigns for a healthier, more sustainable and equitable society.

What does this mean if you work in Workplace Wellbeing?

“We’re going to be having the same conversations,” she says. “We’ll say ‘can you believe that ultraprocessed food companies partnered with schools to run their breakfast clubs?’”

The questions for those who work in Workplace Wellbeing are twofold. Firstly, which side of history do you want to be on? Secondly, if you want to fight the obesity crisis (which is directly linked to the UK economy, as we’ll discuss later in this feature), how can employers help?

Tackling obesity is a highly complex issue which is not as simple as just ‘doing the right thing’. Indeed, many politicians have wanted to take decisive action. Boris Johnson’s stance on the issue is a notable example when he was in office and was hospitalised with Covid-19; he immediately announced a raft of initiatives, having experienced firsthand the ill health effects of obesity. 

Attempts to tackle obesity haven’t worked

However, ultimately, these became woefully watered down and didn’t live up to his rhetoric. Dr van Tulleken’s report for Nesta, Nourishing Britain: a political manual for improving the nation’s health, does an excellent job of explaining why this happens. It was co-authored by former government food policy advisor, Henry Dimbleby.

The report opens with a quote from Winston Churchill that “healthy citizens are the greatest asset any country can have”. Many other former Prime Ministers (some of whom are interviewed for the report) believe this, given that since the early 1990s the UK government has published 14 different obesity strategies containing nearly 700 policy ideas. 

What are the obstacles?

But, as it explains, two of the main obstacles to progress are: 1) being accused of being a nanny state, and 2) conflict of interest with the food industry and fears about the effect on the economy.

Now, however, the narrative is changing because it’s becoming clear that the economy is more at risk from an obese, unhealthy population than from conflicting with food companies. 

Economists are linking obesity to the economy and productivity. If we don’t find ways to reverse the obesity trend then it will be challenging in future for employers to create sustainable, productive workforces. 

This, as former Prime Minister Sir Tony Blair says in the report, “had been underappreciated for some time but is starting to draw more attention”. Record numbers of people are out of work with longterm illness and unhealthy diets are estimated to cost the UK at least £268 billion in lost productivity, health and social care costs, as well as costs to the individuals (ref. Nesta).

Obesity is the gateway to much disease

With obesity being the gateway to many other diseases – type 2 diabetes, heart problems, strokes, dementia and cancer, for example – this also creates a massive drain on the economy, with one pound in every three of government spending going to the NHS (ref. Nesta). 29% of adults in England are obese, and 64% are overweight, and 9% of the health service’s budget goes on diabetes, according to the latest NHS figures.

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The “slide” into obesity is “directly correlated with the commercial transformation of the food system over the past 70 years” and, as such, “is clearly systemic and cannot simply be attributed to – or solved by – individual willpower”, says Nesta. Again, this brings us back to the central debate of MAD World 2024, which looked at where the responsibility for Wellbeing lies – with the institution or the individual.

In this case, given the stats are so stark and the negative impact on business is so obvious, it makes sense that employers, alongside government and individuals, should shoulder some of the responsibility for solutions to obesity.

Individuals are pushing back on the system

Indeed, there are growing numbers of individuals who are now starting to push for change and question the system they find themselves shopping in. This is fuelled by a plethora of publications, programmes and podcasts, not least Dr van Tulleken’s own brother in law – Chris van Tulleken, of CBBC fame – who wrote the bestseller Ultra-Processed People: why do we all eat stuff that isn’t food… and why can’t we stop?

More and more consumers (and so, more and more of your employees) are becoming aware of the topic and the effect of UPFs, according to a study by the University of York. Over a third (39%) say they are “more concerned” about food production practices, especially of UPFs, than before the pandemic, finds a survey by the Food Standards Agency. These are the kind of employees who will question what their employers lay on in terms of food at working lunches, the canteen, conferences or vending machines: is it going to be a sea of beige UPF like pastries, donuts and fizzy drinks, or are there going to be healthy, whole food options?

Employers can help

Even some high profile executives at UPF companies are saying that the food market must change for the common good, like former Danone CEO Emmanuel Faber, who wanted to stop selling UPF during his tenure (but was ousted because of it). The company’s UK & Ireland President James Mayer also told the media in 2023 that “the UK food industry’s efforts to improve the health profile of its products have not moved fast enough. We’ve reached a point where meaningful intervention from the government is a necessary course of action.”

As former Prime Minister David Cameron told Nourishing Britain, “nudging consumers alone is not enough. You also have to give the companies a shove, so those consumers can make better choices”.

That’s where all employers can help, regardless of whether they operate in the food industry or not: they can support, and push for, regulation. Particularly if obesity is an issue amongst your workforce, employers can make a business case for regulation and voice their concerns to government officials. 

Employers need to voice their concerns about the obesity crisis

“In order to build up the public acceptance of regulation, government needs a public demand, as well from employers,” says Dr van Tulleken. “We need business leaders to say that something needs to be done about food-related ill health publicly, so that paves the way. There needs to be radical change because the food system is flooded with ultra-processed food and that is not working for the nation’s health. There needs to be a cacophony of consumer and business voices. That would really help.”

While Nourishing Britain is written for politicians who want to effect positive change in terms of the obesity crisis, its learnings are highly transferable to the business world and particularly those in Workplace Wellbeing. For instance there is a series of recommendations on how to deal with the issue of being seen as too paternalistic; a common issue in our industry. 

A core intention of the report is to prompt politicians to question what they want their legacy to be. Many high profile names say they wish they had done more on obesity. Let’s hope the Health and Wellbeing industry won’t be saying the same, when we look back on this crisis in years to come.

*Don’t miss our sister event The Watercooler on 30 April and 1 May 2025 in London where we are hosting a session on ‘the link between the food we eat and our health crisis – what employers can do to help’. For more details on this event on shaping the future of work, wellbeing, culture and innovation, see here.

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