Why going on diet really can save your life

... even if you are still overweight

LOSING weight slashes the risk of developing several chronic health conditions even if people stay obese, research has found.

A major study of more than half a million overweight British adults found that going on a diet has a series of significant health benefits.

Researchers found that losing 13 per cent of your body weight cuts the chance of developing type 2 diabetes by 42 per cent.

It also reduces the chance of going on to develop high blood pressure or sleep apnoea, where your breathing stops and starts as you sleep, by one quarter.

People who lost weight also reduced their risk of getting hip and knee arthritis and high cholesterol by one fifth.

The huge benefits were seen even when people remained obese, with a body mass index (BMI) over 30, after losing weight.

The study, presented yesterday at the European and International Congress on Obesity, was based on GP surgery data for 550,000 UK adults with an average age of 51 gathered over eight years.

Experts said the findings were a ‘wake-up call’ that proves the benefits of even modest weight loss in preventing devastating diseases. It follows an announcement from the NHS on Monday that thousands of type 2 diabetics will be offered a three-month 800 calorie soup and shake daily diet. Britain

has one of the highest obesity rates in Western Europe, with two in three adults overweight or obese.

Professor Jason Halford, president elect of the European Association for the Study of Obesity which runs the online conference, said: ‘We ignore obesity at our peril. Weight management is clearly one of the best ways to control diseases including diabetes. This study shows the importance of investing in prevention and support to help people lose weight now, rather than waiting for them to turn up in hospital with severe complications ten years down the line.’

The researchers, led by Danish healthcare firm Novo Nordisk, weighed participants four years after their initial measurements were taken, by which time 60,000 had lost at least 10 per cent of their body weight.

The average weight loss in this group was 13 per cent of body weight. Many were still obese, but had lost enough weight for it to have a drastic impact on their health. The other 492,000 people had not lost weight.

Scientists compared the risk of developing six obesity-related conditions in the two groups.

Study author Dr Christiane Haase said: ‘The difference in the risk of these conditions is striking and indicates that people with obesity could markedly reduce their disease risk through intentional weight loss.’

The research also looked at the impact on heart attack risk, but found no significant reduction.

Professor Nick Finer of Novo Nordisk said: ‘Health policy has been much happier to treat diabetes when it develops rather than the obesity which causes it to develop. That is completely illogical. Now we have evidence that if you lose weight you can prevent these diseases – which are expensive to treat – from developing. It should be a wake up call to healthcare providers and policymakers.’

Diabetes alone is estimated to cost the NHS £10billion a year.

Professor Finer said of the study’s findings: ‘This is a major health gain that has the potential to add years to your life.

‘We know that obesity is a serious chronic disease, if you have a BMI of 35 or above you are probably losing about seven years of life expectancy.’ Tracy Parker, from the British Heart Foundation, said: ‘To make the healthy choice the easy choice, the Government must urgently put in place the evidence-based measures outlined in its recent obesity strategy, especially a 9pm watershed on TV and online junk food adverts and mandatory calorie labelling.’

Dr Lucy Chambers of Diabetes UK said: ‘We we know losing weight isn’t easy, which is why getting support is important. We need Government to urgently review provision of weight management services and take action to address the barriers to accessing them.’

‘Prevent diseases from developing’

EIGHT in ten migrants who reach Britain in small boats are refused asylum, Home Office chiefs revealed yesterday.

Around 2,500 of this year’s 5,500 arrivals have had their claims assessed yet only 20 per cent were successful.

It means roughly 2,000 should be deported but very few have been – just 185 since as far back as October 2018.

Yesterday 11 migrants were returned to Spain but it came a day after a record 416 more reached the UK from France.

The deportation flight was finally sanctioned when a judge dismissed a ‘large number of legal challenges’ at a hearing that went on until 2am.

The removal of 17 migrants to another safe European country was blocked by similar last-minute legal challenges, the

Commons home affairs committee was told yesterday. Most asylum applications are rejected because the claimants passed through countries where they should have applied to stay first.

The former Royal Marine tasked with halting the crossings told MPs on the committee that efforts were failing.

‘Nobody in the world has solved this problem,’ said Dan O’Mahoney.

‘Ruthless criminals are taking advantage of the vulnerability of these migrants, some of whom don’t even want to come to the UK. We are hearing a lot of stories about migrants who are literally forced on to boats. They have no idea where they are when they get to the UK.’

Mr O’Mahoney said ‘unprecedented weather patterns’ in July and August had led to the surge in arrivals.

The 5,500 total this year is already three times the figure for 2019. Strong winds and choppy waters meant there were no arrivals yesterday.

Downing Street said the record daily number of crossings on Wednesday was ‘completely unacceptable’. French police stopped another 200 migrants from launching small boats on beaches near Calais, one with 63 passengers.

The Prime Minister’s spokesman said 34 people smugglers have been jailed this year as a result of UK investigations and more than 3,000 attempts had been stopped by French authorities. The figures on unsuccessful asylum claims were given to the Commons committee by Abi Tierney, a Home Office immigration chief.

The huge numbers have put Home Secretary Priti Patel under renewed pressure. A source said she was ‘straining every sinew’ and ‘won’t stop until small boat crossings are totally unviable’. The source added: ‘Despite the best efforts of the activist lawyers and the intransigence of certain EU countries we have again today kicked people out of the country who have no right to be here.’

Miss Patel is seeking an agreement with the French to allow migrant boats to be turned back to Calais. None has been forthcoming despite the UK giving £114million to Paris over five years to fund anti-migrant patrols.

Adam Holloway, Tory MP for Gravesham in Kent, said: ‘We have to send out the message that if you arrive in Britain illegally, smashing down the door of our immigration laws, then you will not stay in Britain.

‘We’ve got very large numbers of fit young men who have spent many, many thousands of dollars travelling through various places around the world who are seeking asylum, but are coming in with the knowledge that they will eventually be given political asylum.’

‘Unprecedented weather patterns’