Poor nutrition is costing the NHS more than smoking, claims Tim Spector
The NHS spends more money on health problems caused by poor nutrition than it does for smoking-related health issues.
It's widely acknowledged that smoking is a huge public health problem in the UK. In fact, Cancer Research explains that tobacco kills one person every five minutes, and roughly 78,000 people in the UK die from smoking -related health issues every year.
But Professor Tim Spector has shed light on another public health problem that costs the government and the NHS more money than smoking. Health issues related to poor nutrition cost more than that of smoking, and take up a worrying majority of the NHS's budget, according to a video the scientist recently posted on Instagram.
Tim Spector is one of the top 100 most-cited scientists in the world, and is a leading expert on food health and nutrition. He boasts a huge following of more than 697,000 on Instagram, where he often shares his extensive knowledge on nutrition and the food industry.
A recent video on the expert's Instagram showed a clip of Professor Spector in conversation with NYU Professor Dr Brian Elbel, where they discussed the health effects of smoking versus poor nutrition.
Dr Elbel said: "In most western countries, it was smoking that was the number one killer, and the number one contribution to healthcare cost. Now, it's really shifted to being diet and nutrition, and metabolic diseases like that."
Poor nutrition can indeed lead to several metabolic diseases, according to Mayo Clinic. These include type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and obesity.
Other metabolic disorders like metabolic syndrome, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, and chronic kidney disease can be linked to poor diet and nutritional deficiencies.
The doctor then explained how the two public health problems of smoking and poor nutrition can have different effects on health.
He continued: "One of the things about smoking is that it kills you quickly and pretty dramatically.
"For something like nutrition, a lot of these things are slowly building over time. And once you're at these points, and have these health conditions, treating them is actually quite difficult."
Many metabolic diseases require lifelong management, and can be difficult to treat due to their wide range of symptoms and complications. Spector chimed in, explaining the difference in NHS healthcare costs for each of these issues.
He said: "We know that food companies are making around £30billion worth of profit in the UK, and it's probably costing between £90billion and £140billion in healthcare costs directly, which is getting close to the NHS budget. So these are massive numbers that are potentially preventable."
Last year, research found that the UK's nutrition crisis and addiction to unhealthy food costs £268billion a year in total, including healthcare costs, social care costs, and welfare.
It was found that total healthcare costs caused by poor nutrition added up to £67.5billion a year, which as Spector suggested, far outstrips the budget for the whole of the NHS.
Previous research has shown that health problems related to poor nutrition do indeed cost the NHS more than what they spend on smoking-related issues.
In fact, in 2022, reports found that NHS England spent £2.6billion a year on smoking-related healthcare.
While this figure excludes the rest of the UK, it is significantly less than what the NHS is spending on nutrition.
And the pattern is similar for Scotland. The Scottish Government's 2018 report indicated a £5.8billion economic burden from poor diet, whereas the cost of smoking is estimated to be in the range of £300m to £500m.
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