Eating more fish has the potential to significantly reduce the number of cases of diseases such as cancer and type 2 diabetes.

If the public were to eat one more portion of fish per week than current levels, it could save the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) up to £600 million every year, a study in England has shown.

This preliminary research was commissioned by Seafish and carried out by Risk & Policy Analysts (RPA) and Health Economics Consulting (HEC) at the University of East Anglia (UEA). They explored how the health benefits of eating fish might translate to wider positive impacts for the economy.

The behaviour change, which could prevent thousands of cases of cancer and type 2 diabetes, could also save businesses up to £360 million per annum, due to the better health of their workers and reduced amount of sick leave.

NHS guidelines recommend that ‘a healthy, balanced diet should include at least two portions of fish a week, including one of oil rich fish’ (NHS, 2019). However, the current estimate for seafood consumption across England is half the recommended level at just over one portion a week and consumption is on the decline. (Defra, 2021).

 At an individual level, increasing your weekly fish and shellfish consumption from one to two portions could result in:

15% reduced risk in developing Type 2 Diabetes

30% – 42% reduced risk in developing colorectal cancer

40% reduced risk in developing lung cancer

42% – 44% reduced risk in developing ovarian cancer for women

The findings revealed that the largest benefits would accrue in the North East where seafood consumption is at its lowest compared to the rest of England. Younger groups are also consuming less seafood per week on average compared to the over 55s, so 22% of all preventable disease cases avoided would be in the 25-34 years age category.

In reducing these preventable cases by increasing seafood consumption, the wider economic benefits would equate to £3.5 billion per year in England. The savings to the NHS specifically would be between £270m to £600m a year. This equates to between £31,000 to £35,000 per patient over each patient’s lifetime.