Counting the cost

Poor diet is the largest contributor to NHS costs amongst the usual group of suspects, an assertion not missed by the press. The British Heart Foundation Health Promotion Research Group has reappraised the economic impact on the NHS of poor diet, physical inactivity, smoking, alcohol and obesity. Looking at data from 2006-7, researchers found that while smoking and alcohol each accounted for £3.3 billion, poor diet cost the NHS £5.8 billion. A team from the Netherlands, meanwhile, has examined the EU-wide economic cost of health inequalities.