Stevens highlighted the fact that almost one-in-five secondary school aged children are obese. Also, that a quarter of adults are obese, compared to just 15% 20 years ago.
Without action, he said, it was expected that there would be a rise in avoidable illness and disability, including many cases of type 2 diabetes which Diabetes UK estimates already costs the NHS around £9 billion a year.
Stevens said: “Obesity is the new smoking, and it represents a slow-motion car crash in terms of avoidable illness and rising health care costs.
“If as a nation we keep piling on the pounds around the waistline, we’ll be piling on the pounds in terms of future taxes needed just to keep the NHS afloat.”
Next month the publication of an NHS ‘Five Year Forward View’ will highlight some actions that could make a difference over the course of the next Parliament.
The publication will highlight new incentives to ensure the NHS as an employer establishes a national example in the support it offers its own 1.3 million staff to stay healthy and become health ambassadors in their local communities.
Currently, three quarters of NHS trusts say they offer staff help to quit smoking, and a third offer them support in maintaining a healthy weight. Three quarters of hospitals don’t offer healthy food to staff working night shifts.