The Budget – last week’s hot topic.

Few were pleased with last week’s Budget… then again, are we ever? But hey, the UK is £2.76 TRILLION in debt, so what do we really expect?

For what it’s worth, here’s my view. This covers where the government might be missing a trick, and where we— the UK public —need to take some responsibility too.

There’s A LOT of waste in public spending, and I’m sure most would agree. But with obesity-related disease costing the economy more than £126 billion per year, and type 2 diabetes alone costing £10.7 billion, how much of a dent could we make—or at least how much strain could we take off the NHS—if we all took more responsibility for our own health?

I’ve recently taken out a new life insurance policy that rewards me financially for being active. Not because insurers like covering people who look good on the beach, but because they prefer people who are less likely to cost them money by dying early. They know that customers who move more WILL live longer.

Part of me thinks there could be a similar government reward scheme for those who lead an active lifestyle (I’ve no idea how that would work!), but then a bigger part of me thinks: surely we all want to live longer—and, more importantly, live better?

Nobody wants to find movement difficult or get out of breath walking up the stairs. Nobody wants to medicate for the rest of their lives or end up in surgery to fix worn-out organs.

And there isn’t a single person out there who doesn’t know what they need to do to be healthier. So why aren’t we doing it? Why are 64% of the UK population overweight or obese?

Whilst I’m not suggesting this should ever be an option, I do wonder what the impact would be on public health if the NHS didn’t cover lifestyle-related disease. Food for thought… Could you be doing more to take responsibility for your own health and wellbeing?