Give fat people £180 Fitbit health gadgets on the NHS – expert

OBESE people should be given free Fitbit-style devices on the NHS to help them lose weight, an adviser to the Scottish Government has said.

The high-tech ‘activity trackers’ – which monitor the number of steps walked, heart rate, calorie consumption and quality of sleep – can cost up to £180.

But Heather Morgan, of the Health Services Research Unit (HSRU), believes GPs should prescribe the costly gadgets to overweight patients in order to tackle obesity early and relieve pressure on the NHS.

Writing on The Conversation website, Dr Morgan, who is based at Aberdeen University, said: ‘The appeal of wearable fitness trackers and their cost mean that current use is largely among the “worried well”, fitness geeks or “quantified selves” [people who use technology to track all aspects of their daily lives with the goal of self-improvement].’

She added: ‘But if fitness trackers were made available through health services… they could have the potential to improve eating habits and increase activity for those who need encouragement most.’

Activity trackers – made by firms such as Fitbit, Jawbone and Microsoft – have been popularised by celebrities including Gwyneth Paltrow and Britney Spears.

The basic theory is that, if wearers are conscious of how much they are moving, they will be encouraged to

‘Allows people to take control’

move more. Users can set themselves basic daily targets.

According to the most recent figures available from Obesity Action Scotland, around six in ten Scottish adults are overweight or obese. One in five primary age children is at risk of being overweight or obese.

The wave of obesity is estimated to cost Scotland nearly £5billion a year.

Dr Morgan said: ‘Some doctors are already able to prescribe fitness classes, or give financial incentives for people to lose weight. This could work in a similar way.

‘It allows people to take control and monitor their own movements. But they [Fitbits] are quite costly, and some people can’t spend that sort of money.’ She admitted: ‘We actually don’t know the long-term benefits. It might be people wear them for six to ten weeks, just to see if they had any benefit.

‘Most people have smart phones so they would be able to access the apps that go with them.’

Dr Morgan – who has been discussing the idea with an NHS digital strategy team – believes the devices could be key to tackling obesity before people develop problems such as diabetes, chronic heart complaints and strokes. ‘It’s something we should be thinking about now rather than later,’ she said.

The Scottish Government-funded HSRU has a remit to research the best ways to provide healthcare.