Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department of Health and Social
Care (): Last year, in response to growing numbers across
the country living with excess weight and obesity, the Government
published our new strategy, ‘Tackling obesity: empowering adults
and children to live healthier lives’. Worryingly, during the
Covid-19 pandemic, evidence has shown that people with obesity
are more likely to be admitted to hospital, to an intensive care
unit and, sadly, to die compared to those of a healthy body
weight. This is as well as being at a heightened risk of other
diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and some cancers.
So, today I am delighted to announce that the Government is
committing an additional £100 million over 2021/22 to support
people living with obesity, to lose weight and maintain a
healthier lifestyle.
More than £70 million will be invested into weight management
services available through the NHS and Local Authorities. The
funding announced today will mean up to 700,000 adults have
access to support that can help them to lose weight, from access
to digital apps, weight management groups or individual coaches,
to specialist clinical support. This funding will also support
GPs and other health professionals to help make weight management
an integral part of routine care. It will encourage clinicians to
have conversations about weight with their patients and enable
them to refer patients to new services.
£30 million will be used to fund a variety of initiatives that
will help individuals maintain a healthy weight. This includes
providing access to the free NHS 12 week weight loss plan app and
continuing the successful Better Health marketing campaign to
motivate people to make healthier choices. Some of the funding
will go towards improving services and tools to support healthy
growth in early years and childhood. This will assist up to 6,000
children, and their families, to grow, develop and maintain a
healthier weight whilst providing many more with advice on
lifestyle changes to promote a healthy weight.
Evidence suggests that people who have access to structured
weight management services are more successful in losing weight
than people who try to manage alone. Losing weight reduces the
risk of developing diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease
and some cancers. This funding will support a breadth of new
services so that people can find an approach that works for them.
I am also very pleased to announce that Sir Keith Mills, who has
pioneered reward programmes through Airmiles and Nectar points,
has been appointed to advise on developing a new approach, ‘Fit
Miles’, to supporting people to eat well and move more, using
incentives and rewards.
Drawing on a wealth of experience and best practice from around
the world, Sir Keith will support the Government to develop and
test innovative approaches with public and private partners that
use incentives and rewards to help people make healthier choices.
This additional funding will complement other policies announced
in last year’s obesity strategy that will change the wider
environment and empower people to make the healthier choices.
From restricting advertisements for food and drinks high in fat,
salt and sugar, banning unhealthy promotions, consulting on
alcohol calorie labelling, requiring large businesses to provide
calorie information- these actions are helping us all make
healthier choices.
The Department of Health and Social Care is working closely with
NHS England and Improvement and Public Health England ensure this
programme of funding helps those who need it most. This funding
will support people across the country achieve a healthier
lifestyle. The Department of Health and Social Care will provide
further detail on this programme of work in the coming weeks and
months.
