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Home » Long Term Weight Loss » Extending NHS weight loss programme ‘helped stop slimmers piling the pounds back on’ – Express.co.uk

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Researchers discovered that offering a year-long programme of weight loss classes could prevent an additional 1,786 cases of illnesses - such as high blood pressure, diabetes, and heart disease for every 100,000 people compared to a 12-week programme.

The study, published in The Lancet, showed that extending NHS weight loss programmes from one session per week for 12-weeks to one session per week for a year helped people who are overweight to lose more weight and keep it off longer,

Although upfront costs for the longer programme are higher, researchers estimated that offering more sessions would be cost-effective to the NHS in the long-term because it would help to prevent more weight-related health problems.

Professor Susan Jebb of Oxford University, who led the study, said: "This trial provides important data that offering support to lose weight - by referring people to a community weight loss group - is more successful than a self-help approach, and that providing classes for longer helps people keep weight off for longer.

This trial provides important data that offering support to lose weight is more successful than a self-help approach

Professor Susan Jebb - Oxford University

"Our results also show that, in the long-term, weight loss groups are cost-effective for society as a whole because they are likely to reduce future healthcare expenditure by preventing costly conditions such as diabetes and coronary heart disease."

The NHS currently refers people who are obese to 12-week long weight loss programmes run by commercial groups and provides vouchers for free attendance.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence recommends that programmes last at least 12 weeks.

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But there is little evidence to suggest how long these programmes should last to be most effective.

The new study involved 1,267 overweight people and compared the effectiveness of a 12-week and year-long programme of free Weight Watchers sessions to one-off advice together with a self-help booklet.

After a year, those given the self-help booklet had lost half a stone, those referred to the 12-week programme had lost 11lbs, and those referred to the year-long programme had lost 15lbs on average.

Two years after they began treatment, participants in all the groups regained some weight, but all groups were still lighter on average than at the start of treatment.

The self-help group were 5lbs lighter, the 12-week programme were 7lbs lighter, while the group offered a one-year programme were 9lbs lighter.

The findings showed that those in the year-long programme also had "significantly greater" reductions in fasting blood glucose and glycosylated haemoglobin, which are important markers of the risk of developing diabetes.

The 12-week programme was predicted to prevent more illnesses than the self-help intervention due to greater weight loss.

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Over 25 years, the cost to the NHS of providing the programme would be more than offset by the later savings as a result of reductions in disease, making it overall cost-saving, according to the findings.

Dr Amy Ahern, of Cambridge University, who also took part in the study, said: "We've seen before that a 12-week programme can help people lose weight, but for the first time we've shown that extending this to a full year leads to greater weight loss over a longer period and a lower risk of diabetes.

"Although the initial costs of the year-long programme are greater, it's very likely that it will be good value for money over the long term because of the reduction in weight-related illnesses.

"The results from the one-year programme are comparable to what has been seen in previous trials that used much more costly interventions, usually involving multiple contacts with health professionals."

Professor Jebb added: "We know that many local authorities are questioning how best to spend their limited budgets.

"We have shown that the longer programmes bring greater benefits, with only modest extra costs.

"But at a time when some areas are reducing their expenditure on obesity treatment, the first step is to ensure that people who want help to lose weight have access to at least a standard 12-week weight loss programme, which we have shown is likely to be cost-saving for the NHS."

See the article here:
Extending NHS weight loss programme 'helped stop slimmers piling the pounds back on' - Express.co.uk

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Home » Long Term Weight Loss » Extending NHS weight loss programme ‘helped stop slimmers piling the pounds back on’ – Express.co.uk