Just tell fat patients to diet, GPs urged
Doctors ‘should stop being polite about obesity’
GPs should stop worrying about offending fat patients and just send them to slimming classes, researchers claim.
They say the sessions are twice as effective at helping individuals slim down as leaving them to diet on their own.
Although slimming courses are free on the NHS, doctors are reluctant to refer obese patients in case they upset them.
But Oxford University researchers say GPs can make a difference by spending only 30 seconds of appointment time talking about the effectiveness of attending.
In a study published in the Lancet, they found that patients attending the 12-week courses lost twice as much weight as those who tried dieting alone.
The research involved 1,882 men and women who had seen their GP for a consultation unrelated to weight loss. All patients were urged to think about losing weight and half were referred directly to slimming clubs, the remainder left to diet alone.
After 12 months they were weighed and those who had attended courses lost an average of 5lb compared to 2lb among the other group. Lead author Professor Paul Aveyard suggested GPs broach the subject by saying: ‘While you’re here, I just wanted to talk about your weight.’
He said: ‘Doctors can be concerned about offending their patients by discussing their weight, but evidence from this trial shows that they should be much less worried.
‘Our study found that a brief, 30-second conversation, followed by help booking the first appointment on to a community weight loss programme, leads to weight loss and is welcomed by patients.’
WeightWatchers, Slimming World, Rosemary Conley and other locally-run 12-week courses are available for free on the NHS for patients classified as obese.
Health watchdog Nice urged them to be routinely provided in in 2014, although many areas were already offering the courses. They cost £100 a course and typically involve a weekly meeting with a weigh-in.
Critics have questioned why the NHS is paying for slimming clubs when it is rationing hip replacements and cataract surgery.
Experts claim the courses save money in the long term by preventing patients developing type 2 diabetes and other debilitating and costly conditions.
Britain has one of the highest obesity rates in Europe, with a quarter of adults obese.
The researchers have previously received grants from WeightWatchers and Slimming World but insist this did not influence conclusions from the new study.
Tam Fry, spokesman for the National Obesity Forum, said: ‘It appears that talking to patients in the right way, even for half a minute, does the trick and one has to ask why a similar study was not done a generation ago.
‘Family doctors should take action to prevent obesity and weight-related health problems that clog up their waiting rooms.’
‘Clog up their waiting rooms’