Welcome back to this week’s news summary blog, bringing you the key stories in health news from 18th to 24th May. This week it has been predicted that taxes need to increase to support the NHS, a study has shown that by 2045 one in eight people will suffer with type 2 diabetes and watching one extra junk food advertisement per week could equate to 18,000 extra calories a year.
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Sign up to our newsletters hereIt has been calculated that the NHS needs an extra 4% per year over the next 15 years from tax to support its activity. The Institute for Fiscal Studies and Health Foundation have determined that it could require as much as £2,000 per UK household. The prime minister has promised a long-term funding plan for the NHS which could be announced as soon as next month. The increase in the number of patients living with long-term conditions and the ageing population means that the NHS requires more funding than it has done previously.
If obesity continues to increase at the same rate by 2045 as many as one in eight people in the world will have type 2 diabetes. It is predicted that by the year 2045 22% will be obese, increasing the incidence of type 2 diabetes. The implications of the increase could put extra strain on the NHS which already spends £14bn a year on diabetes. Patients with diabetes require monitoring as they can suffer from serious, life-changing complications such as blindness and amputations.
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A study by Cancer Research UK has shown that watching one extra junk food advertisement a week means children eat an extra 18,000 calories a year. The extra calories equates to approximately 70 mars bars or 60 cheeseburgers and 5 pounds of weight gain each year. The charity along with many others are campaigning for unhealthy foods to be banned before the 9pm watershed. The study also showed that obese children watched around five hours more TV each week than those of a healthy weight.
Words: Joelle Booth
Missed out on recent health news? Read the latest here:
- NHS delays mean that some cancer patients are waiting up to 18 months for treatment according to new figures>>
- Jeremy Hunt has given some private hospitals two weeks to devise plans to improve on safety and quality>>
- Jeremy Hunt, the UK Health and Social Care Secretary, has admitted that 450,000 women could be affected by an error in releasing breast cancer screening reminders>>
