Soaring obesity levels mean one in 10 deaths in England and Wales is now caused by excess weight, the chief medical officer has warned.

Prof Dame Sally Davies, the Chief Medical Officer for England, said that a “normalisation” of being overweight meant many people did not recognise that they weighed too much, and that the extra pounds could shorten their life.

Writing for The Sunday Telegraph, she highlighted research which shows that about 10 per cent of deaths in England and Wales are the result of excess weight.

The study, by the University of Cambridge, suggests that next year, between 40,000 and 53,000 deaths in England and Wales will be attributable to extra pounds, including more than three quarters of diabetic deaths and one quarter of deaths from heart disease.

Dame Sally said she was concerned that spiralling obesity levels, with two thirds of the population now categorised as overweight or obese, meant that many such people were blind to it, and to the associated risks.

She said she was particularly concerned by studies showing that most parents of overweight children did not believe their offspring weighed too much.

via Excess weight causing 1 in 10 deaths, top doctor warns – Telegraph.