Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Statistics on Obesity, Physical Activity and Diet, published on 5 May 2020 by NHS Digital, what steps his Department is taking to reduce hospital admissions (a) directly attributable to obesity and (b) where obesity was a factor; and if he will make a statement.

Through the three chapters of ‘Childhood obesity: a plan for action’ we are bringing forward a wide range of measures to reduce the prevalence of children who are obese. We have seen important successes including the average sugar content of drinks subject to the soft drinks industry levy decreasing by 28.8% between 2015 and 2018, and significant investment being made in schools to promote physical activity and healthy eating. Many of the measures in the plan will have an impact on reducing obesity across all age groups.

Unicef’s ‘State of the World's Children’ report, published in October 2019, recognised that “the United Kingdom is paving the way to ensure that all children grow up in a healthy food environment”. The Unicef report is available at the following link:

www.unicef.org/media/61356/file/SOWC-2019.pdf

NHS Digital has advised that the Hospital Episodes Statistics uses World Health Organization International Classification of Diseases v.10 (ICD-10) to record the main diagnosis and any secondary co-morbidities. Within ICD-10 obesity is assigned as code E66 and this will be recorded on any episode of care where a clinical diagnosis of obesity has been made. The NHS Digital coding standard DCS.IV.3: Obesity (E66) states: Codes in category E66 Obesity must only be coded when a diagnosis of obesity is recorded in the medical record. Where body mass index (BMI) has been recorded in the medical record, this must not be used to assign a code from category E66.- Obesity. A clinical coder must always refer to the responsible consultant to confirm the clinical significance of a test result, for example BMI reading and/or relationship to a specific condition.