02.01.20
NHS diabetes drive sees weight loss equivalent of 43 ambulances
Participants of the NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme have had a combined weight loss of the equivalent of 43 ambulances.
The NHS diabetes drive has seen 89,604 people complete the programme, losing a combined weight of 185,051kg.
More than £10bn is spent on the NHS every year treating the disease and its complications, with around four million people with type 2 diabetes living in the UK.
The service is the first in the world to successfully carry out a full national roll-out, giving expert advice on dieting, exercise and promoting a health lifestyle.
Plans for the scheme to more than double in size mean that around 200,000 people every year will receive this support as part of the NHS Long Term Plan.
Over a million obesity diagnoses were made in hospital patients last year and around nine out of ten people with diabetes have type 2.
Complications from the disease include blindness and foot amputations and being overweight is a risk factor for developing diabetes, making the weight loss all the more significant.
Professor Jonathan Valabhji, NHS national clinical director for obesity and diabetes, said:
“Around two-thirds of adults and one-third of children are now overweight or obese, driving higher and higher rates of type 2 diabetes that we are now focusing huge efforts to prevent as part of our NHS Long Term Plan.
“Helping people avoid diabetes is potentially life-saving, so these results are encouraging, but ultimately the NHS cannot win the fight against obesity alone, which is why we are providing people with the tools to help themselves – changing lives and freeing up vital NHS resources.”
The programme runs for 9-12 months, and provides personalised lifestyle interventions including education on lifestyle choices, advice on weight loss and healthier eating and bespoke physical activity.
In addition to this, people are more than ever benefitting from wearable tech, such as glucose monitors, as part of the NHS Long Term Plan.
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