Alcohol-induced obesity to drive up insurance premiums

Britain is heading towards an obesity epidemic caused in part by excessive alcohol consumption - which could affect life insurance premiums, a new report from Standard Life warns.

The insurance company found that the average British male adds an extra day's worth of calories to his recommended weekly intake by drinking too great a quantity of lager, wine, cider or spirits.

Women are also drinking more than the recommended amount, prompting Standard Life to warn that people who drink too much may have to pay more to get life cover.

Mick James, protection marketing manager for Standard Life, said: "The indirect financial impact of a 'growing' nation can affect anything from your private medical insurance to life insurance and critical illness insurance."

All of these, he said, can be "far more expensive if you have a body mass index over the average for your height and age". He added that in the worst case scenario people may actually be denied cover.

Obesity has clear links with a wide swathe of public health problems ranging from diabetes to heart attack and infertility.

Official statistics show that obesity rates in adults have nearly quadrupled in the UK over the past 25 years.

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