New factsheet: Obesity and Inequalities in Scotland
10 June 2025
In line with the Scottish Obesity Alliance's keen interest in addressing the underlying determinants of obesity, we are pleased to release a new factsheet on Obesity and Inequalities in Scotland.
The factsheet highlights key disparities in obesity prevalence between population groups, and to demonstrate the potential synergies gained by addressing obesity, tackling poverty and reducing socio-economic inequalities more broadly.
Key points include:
- The proportion of adults living with obesity in Scotland increases with levels of deprivation.
- Primary 1 children living in the most deprived areas of Scotland are more than twice as likely (14%) to be at risk of obesity than those in the least deprived areas (6%).
- There is an increased risk of obesity in adults aged over 25.
- People living with a limiting long-term condition are more likely to experience obesity than the rest of the population.
- We have limited data on the weight status of ethnic minority groups in Scotland but what we do have suggests that some ethnic minority groups are at higher risk of obesity.
We hope that the factsheet will aid further collaboration between groups working hard to address both obesity and broader inequalities.
Read the factsheet here.