25.03.15
Clinicians play ‘crucial role’ in promoting physical activity and tackling obesity
Health professionals need to spend more time highlighting the benefits of exercise in promoting all-round health and wellbeing, according to a cross-party group of MPs.
The Health Select Committee also found it to be "inexplicable and unacceptable" that the NHS in England spends more on bariatric surgery than well-established measures to prevent obesity, as revealed in the Five Year Forward View.
In a report published today, looking at the impact of physical activity and diet on people’s health, the committee found that there needs to be far greater emphasis on the benefits of physical activity and that this is independent of issues such as obesity.
Clinicians, such as practice nurses, have a “crucial role to play in promoting physical activity” and this must be reflected in training, the MPs said.
Discussing weight and exercise should not be “off limits” during clinical consultations, they added.
“NICE has clearly recommended that offering brief advice in a primary care setting is a cost effective way of getting people to increase their levels of physical activity.”
The report continued: “Better undergraduate and postgraduate education is now required both to ensure clinicians’ understanding of the medical benefits of physical activity, and to teach them how to promote physical activity to their patients in an effective way, particularly when some patients may be sceptical of such a ‘low tech’ approach.”
On bariatric surgery the report said: "The committee regards it as inexplicable and unacceptable that the NHS is now spending more on bariatric surgery for obesity than on a national roll-out of intensive lifestyle intervention programmes that were first shown to cut obesity and prevent diabetes over a decade ago."
The MPs also highlight inequalities in rates of physical activity, in particular the disparity between men and women. Official figures suggest just 16% of girls aged five to 16 achieve recommended levels of physical activity, compared with 21% of boys.
Some 32% of women meet the recommended threshold for activity. For men, the official figure is 43%. The report cites "fear of judgement" as deterring many women from taking exercise.
"The extraordinary benefits of exercise in improving physical and mental health should be made clear and accessible to everyone, whatever their current level of fitness,” said committee chair Dr Sarah Wollaston MP.
“The committee calls on the NHS, local authorities and the next government to work together to prioritise prevention and public health and we have set out achievable recommendations for action which could help to transform people's lives and wellbeing."
The Royal College of Physicians welcomed the report, and were happy to see it recognise the importance and benefits of physical activity beyond weight loss.
Prof John Wass, RCP academic vice president and public health lead, said: “As highlighted recently in our own work on NHS staff wellbeing, we strongly agree with the notion that the NHS should lead by example on the issue of promoting physical activity. However, this seems a long way off, as only 28% of NHS trusts have a plan or policy in place reduce obesity among staff.
“When speaking to the committee I noted that one way to improve services on the ground would be to introduce special localised teams. These would be led by a clinician with an interest in weight and weight management and would to provide advice and guidance to patients within the hospital.”
Prof Wass also noted the lack of co-ordination between various government departments when testifying to the committee, he said this highlights a need for a wide ranging government education programme in the near future.
The Department of Health said a lot of progress had been made in tackling the issues raised by the Health Committee.
"Our Change4Life campaign has been providing widespread free advice on healthy eating and exercise, and nearly two million more people now play regular sport than 10 years ago,” a spokesperson said.
"Working with the food industry, we have cut calories, salt and fat in food, and we have also given £8.2bn to local authorities to tackle public health issues like obesity."
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