National Obesity Awareness Week 2022

National Obesity Awareness Week 2022

The UK is one of many places worldwide which has an increased number of people with a high BMI, with 1 in every 4 adults and 1 in 5 children described as ‘obese’ (Benenden Health, 2022). With the number of people classed as obese increasing, National Obesity Awareness week now runs each year to try and tackle the situation.

The most common method to check how healthy your body weight is, is by checking your body mass index (BMI). This doesn’t work for everybody, as there are other factors to consider, such as muscle weighing much more than fat and bone density not being taken into account. If you are wanting to check your BMI, the NHS has a handy BMI calculator.

When looking at your BMI:

• 20 to 24.9 means you’re a healthy weight
• 25 to 29.9 means you’re overweight
• 30 to 39.9 means you’re obese
• 40 or above means you’re severely obese

What are the causes?

There are a number of causes of obesity, the main reason is consuming more calories than you burn, particularly through fatty or sugary foods. The excess energy created from these calories are then stored within the body as fat.

Though over consumption is the most common cause, there are some health conditions which can contribute towards weight gain if not controlled correctly. 

There are a number of campaigns running to get the UK population fit and healthy, such as Couch to 5K and Sit less and move more.

What are the risks?

Being overweight or obese can potentially lead to a number of health conditions, such as type 2 diabetes, stroke and coronary heart disease. It can also sometimes lead to certain types of cancer too. As well as causing health conditions, it can have a big impact on your quality of life as you may be restricted from doing things and it can cause low moods and even depression (NHS, 2019). 

Access to insurance

Taking out protection insurance with a high BMI isn’t always an issue, it just depends on how high your BMI actually is. There are a few insurers who will easily accept your application with a BMI of up to 30. If your BMI is in the mid 30s then that might be a good point to start researching which insurers may be the best fit for you. At this stage insurers may start increasing your premiums, and it’s essential to find the insurer that is going to do this by the lowest amount.

It could be that prices for available policies are all relatively similar but the added benefits that you get from the insurers are different. You might find an insurer that offers you insurance for £5 per month, another might be £6 per month, which is more expensive but might give you, your partner and children access to remote GP services 24/7, mental health, nutrition and fitness support. We all want things as cheap as possible, but there are extras to think about, so that you can get benefits from the insurance without having to even make a claim. 

Using a protection insurance adviser can be very handy when looking at what cover you need and what policies are suitable for that.

Life insurance

When applying for life insurance, the insurer will want to know what your BMI currently is. They may start by asking your weight, height and dress size or waist circumference. The insurer is likely to then ask about any other medical conditions, and may try to see if there are any connections to be made.

If your BMI is creeping above 30-35, you might start to see the price of your policy increase, as the price increases as the BMI does. Once your BMI has reached 40, there are a number of insurers who will be unable to offer cover. At a BMI of 45 it is likely that we need to look at specialist insurers and explore your options further. The highest BMI we have arranged life insurance for is 66, it’s all about knowing the market inside and out. 

Critical illness cover

If your BMI is lower than 35, you should be able to get critical illness cover with many different insurers. Similar questions will be asked to those on an application for life insurance. Again, once your BMI is going above 30, it’s normal to expect the price of the policy to increase, this is because there are more health considerations if you’re carrying more weight, with obesity being a cause of a number of health conditions. 

If your BMI is 43 or over, we will need to look at a specialist insurer for your critical illness cover.

Income protection

The criteria for taking out an income protection policy is slightly stricter than that of life insurance or critical illness cover, as it is much more likely for claims to be made on this type of policy. Up to having a BMI of 40, you can potentially take out income protection with a standard market insurer, possibly with an increased premium if your BMI is high. If your BMI is over 40-45, we are likely to need to start looking at specialist insurers.

Case studies

• A man in his early 30s approached Cura needing life insurance as he was arranging his mortgage. He had a BMI of 45.4 and raised blood pressure. There were a couple of other things for the insurer to take into account but nothing which affected the policy. This client now has a decreasing life insurance policy, covering him for £130,500 and decreasing in line with his mortgage, costing just over £31 per month for 35 years.

   

• A woman in her mid 40s came to Cura needing financial protection for her family in the event of her death. She had a BMI of 42 when coming to Cura. She now has a life insurance policy covering her for just over £274,000 for £close to 23 per month for 27 years. She also has an accident, sickness and unemployment policy covering her for £2,000 per month with a premium of just less than £27 per month.

   

Having a high BMI doesn’t always have to limit your protection insurance options. If you want to see what is available to you and don’t know where to start or want some advice, our advisers at Cura are well trained and experienced to help with a range of enquiries.

Resources

Benenden Health. (2022). National Obesity Awareness Week 2022 | Benenden Hospital. [online] Available at: https://www.benendenhospital.org.uk/health-news/weight-loss/national-obesity-awareness-week/ [Accessed 21 Jan. 2022].

NHS (2019a). Obesity. [online] NHS. Available at: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/obesity/ [Accessed 21 Jan. 2022].