Just 3pc of obese people are referred to slimming clubs, figures show

ONLY A minority of obese people are referred on the NHS to clubs like Slimming World, research suggests.

In 2014, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence issued updated guidance, saying people with a body mass index of 30 or more could benefit from a GP referral to weight-loss programmes. It added that “where there is capacity”, those who are overweight – with a BMI of 25 or more, or lower in black and minority ethnic groups – should not have their access restricted.

It also said there should be no upper BMI or upper age limit for a referral to the programmes, which can include those run by the NHS or Weight Watchers.

A study presented at the European Congress on Obesity in Maastricht has found that just three per cent of adults with a recording of overweight or obesity in primary care in England have been referred to weight management programmes by their GP.

Dr Karen Coulman and colleagues at the University of Bristol used anonymised primary care electronic health records to work out how many adults who were overweight or obese received referrals to weight management programmes.

Some 31 per cent (1,811,587) of the adults whose records were studied were overweight or obese between January 2007 – when guidance on weight-management programmes was first published – and June 2020.

This is half the 64 per cent figure reported in the Health Survey for England, suggesting weight issues are under-recorded in GP surgeries.

Men had 31 per cent lower odds of receiving a referral than women, and people aged 18-24 had 54 pe cent lower odds than those aged 45-54.

Black people had 23 per cent greater odds of being referred than those who were white, according to the findings of the study.