Obesity has a well-known and profound impact on people’s health. Yet, less research has looked at the impact of obesity on prosperity.

The findings outlined in this report suggest a correlation between obesity and economic inactivity, as well as obesity affecting the productivity and wellbeing of people who are in work.

Obesity is not a personal responsibility – it is caused by working conditions, changes in the built environment and a broken food system. Polling for this report shows the public are ahead of politicians - they want government intervention and a break from failed policies focused on individual responsibility.

Drawing from previous IPPR research, the core policy recommendation is based on developing a whole-of-society approach to tackling obesity.

Recommendations for policy-makers include the following:

• Education: improved quality of school meals and for them to be free for all.
• Employers: need to expand flexible working, support healthy work life balance, pay fair wages, provide good working conditions and access to healthy food in the workplace.
• Investment: increase funds flowing into anti-obesity innovations, not obesogenic ones.
• National government: Provide funding to enable innovation and intervention, levy health harming products and regulate to ensure transparent data.
• Local government: need to see increases in funding from government to public health grants, expand weight management programmes.