GPS’ cookery classes ‘to combat obesity’

GPS have been urged to prescribe healthy recipes in an attempt to combat Britain’s obesity crisis.

Doctors are also being asked to run weekend cookery classes at their practices, in an effort to teach families how to eat a balanced diet.

Medics at the Royal College of GPS’ annual conference said doctors needed to take a bigger role in helping patients to choose their meals more wisely.

Dr Abhinav Bhansali, part of Culinary Medicine UK, said the not-for-profit agency was working on a range of recipes that GPS will be asked to hand out.

He said that many patients knew they needed to improve their diets, but lacked practical ideas about how to do so.

The doctor, who also works in intensive care at St George’s Hospital in London, said the agency was expanding training in cooking and nutrition for GPS.

In pilot schemes, doctors have taken part in cookery lessons during special surgeries, he said.

Prof Helen Stokes-lampard, chairman of the Royal College of GPS, said doctors would welcome the idea of “handy resources” such as recipe cards, or websites for healthy eating advice.

“GPS will have an understanding of the impact of nutrition on our patients’ health, but we are always keen to update and enhance our skills,” she said.

Getting family doctors involved in cookery lessons might be ambitious, given the pressures on them, she suggested.

However. giving them recipe cards to hand out could be a quick way of improving the nation’s diet.