GPs prescribe cycling in new 12-week plan to get UK slimmer

THE Government has unveiled a 12week plan to help Britons become fitter and slimmer, in a move that sees GPs prescribe cycling to help curb obesity.

Under the “Better Health” campaign, NHS weight-loss services are to be expanded to give people more targeted nutritional guidance and make specialist support referrals easier.

In a pilot trial, GPs will be encouraged to appropriately prescribe cycling, as studies show it is linked to a 46 per cent lower risk of heart disease compared to a non-active commute.

The move comes as Public Health England found excess weight put people at greater risk of serious illness or death from coronavirus. With more than 36 per cent of UK adults classed as overweight, and 28 per cent obese, the plans aim to help people lose weight before a possible Covid-19 second wave.

Though the campaign seeks to benefit everyone, its advice on healthy eating and exercise habits aims to reach 35million Britons identified as needing to lose weight. A government spokesman said: “Covid-19 has given us a wake-up call of the immediate and long-term risks of being overweight. We must use this time to get healthier.”

Boris Johnson has been urged to ban junk food billboards, after a study found they appear to be targeting the most deprived areas. The research, by experts at the University of Liverpool, believed to be the first of its kind to match the location of advertisements against areas of deprivation. It comes on the eve of the Government’s new obesity strategy, which will include a 9pm watershed for junk food adverts.

The researchers found over 10,000 adverts across Liverpool, with over 1,300 for unhealthy food. Unhealthy food adverts were around 60 per cent more common in the most deprived half of the areas analysed.