NICE releases public health guidance to combat £5.1bn cost of obesity

The National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has released guidance for helping overweight and obese people to achieve and maintain a healthier weight.

It found that with the increasing risk of serious conditions attached to obesity – such as type 2 diabetes and heart disease – the long-term costs to the NHS are an estimated £5.1bn each year.

NICE has called for providers to emphasise to adults the importance of physical motivation as well as programmes focusing on long-term lifestyle change rather than temporary weight loss.

David Stalker, CEO of ukactive, said: “This is a great move by NICE to advocate for the advancement of programmes such as Let's Get Moving and to take seriously exercise and physical activity as a means of reducing serious disease.

“We know obesity is a huge strain on the NHS. Being able to provide our local authorities and GPs with information on services to reduce physical inactivity in their local area is absolutely fundamental.”

Ukactive's own Let's Get Moving programme is based on recommendations of the NICE Public Health Guidance and incorporates a Physical Activity Care Pathway. It is a behaviour change programme delivered over 12 weeks guiding inactive adults towards gradually become more active.

Research conducted by the ukactive Research Institute found that motivational interviewing, as used within the Let's Get Moving programme, helped participants decrease their body mass by an average of 2kg/2 per cent, decrease fat mass by 2.3kg/7.8 per cent, and decrease body fat by 2kg/5.7 per cent.

One partnership between ukactive, NHS Bedfordshire, Team Beds & Luton and local authorities across Bedfordshire provided a route for previously inactive people to try out a new sport. The service was free for GP practices and their patients and provided a link between exercise professionals and surgeries.