The annual costs of unhealthy lifestyles in the UK
UK Healthcare spending reached 10% of GDP by 2018 up from 6.9% in 1997 [1]. Of this, it is estimated that 70 % of all UK healthcare resources are used for the treatment of chronic conditions. As immune systems weaken, one condition leads to two and then two leads to three and so on. Approximately 15 million people in England have a long-term condition and 3 million have 3 or more conditions [2]. Inadequate sleep, high levels of stress, unhappiness, physical inactivity and poor nutrition lead to many preventable chronic conditions.
Poor lifestyles are also costing companies enormous amounts of money
Unhealthy and unhappy workers are costing UK companies approximately £4900 per employee each year. These costs are often hidden and therefore overlooked. They do not appear as a single line item on a company's income statement. If they did, CEOs and CFOs would address the issue immediately.
The table below contains a breakdown of the underlying drivers of these costs and the magnitude of the problem presented by each individual component:
Poor sleep [3a] [3b], high levels of stress [4] , unhappiness [5] , physical inactivity [6] [7], poor nutrition [8], smoking [9] and back pain [10] add up to more than £159 billion annually. These numbers are all adjusted for inflation.
The numbers above illustrate the staggering costs created by unhealthy lifestyles. Poor lifestyles are an enormous and unsustainable burden on our health care system. Corporations have to deal with absenteeism, presenteeism [11], job turnover and retention. Poor sleep, high levels of stress, unhappiness, physical inactivity and poor nutrition are the main culprits. The good news is that a healthy lifestyle prevents 80% of chronic disease [12].
RENDLE helps solve this problem
We have created a data-driven and structured system to drive lifestyle improvements. We help employees understand what the minimum guidelines for healthy living are. We provide personalized education and a healthy lifestyle checklist that allows employees to see what they do well and where they can do better.
For organizations, we provide them with population KPIs and metrics, so they can see how and why their population is improving. For example, our data highlights the number of employees that meet the minimum guidelines for exercise and nutrition. We will also show the percentage of your population that is suffering from back pain or poor sleep or both. These and the many other data points we generate are essential for driving improvements within your organization.
In summary, using a structured and data driven approach to drive employee health and happiness is key to making your company a better place to work. Our process optimizes all your existing health and wellbeing efforts and allows you to identify what the current needs are within your population. We then set goals and provide actionable steps on how to best drive improvements. As a result, you will improve every part of your business along the way, from market reputation and financial performance, to innovation and creativity.
We wish you true wealth.
Sources and references:
[1] How does UK healthcare spending compare with other countries? - Office for National Statistics, August 2019
[2] Long-term conditions and multi-morbidity, Time to Think Differently - The King's Fund, January 2021
[3a] Why Sleep Matters: Quantifying the Economic Costs of Insufficient Sleep - RAND Corporation, April 2016
[3b] Lack of sleep costs the UK economy £40bn - Statista, December 2016
[4] The cost of stress - UK National Work Stress Network, December 2005
[5] Poor mental health costs UK employers up to £45 billion a year - Deloitte, January 2020
[6] Public Health England targets £7.4bn cost of physical inactivity - NHS, September 2014
[7] Physical activity: applying All Our Health - Public Health England, October 2019
[8] Major report highlights impact of Britain's disastrous food policy - The Food Foundation, July 2022
[9] Health matters: stopping smoking – what works? - Public Health England, December 2019
[10] Chronic pain costs the UK £billions but research funding is inadequate - British Pain Society Press, March 2018
[11] Presenteeism Costs Business 10 Times More than Absenteeism - EHS Today, March 2016
[12] 5 Healthy Habits That Prevent Chronic Disease - Health Essentials from Cleveland Clinic, September 2020
About RENDLE:
RENDLE helps organizations drive lifestyle improvements in a structured, data-driven manner. Our methodology guarantees populations will improve their sleep, stress management, happiness, exercise and nutrition while reducing back pain, smoking and other costly conditions. For more details about how we can help your organization improve contact us.