Only around 3% of overweight and obese people in England are referred to services such as slimming clubs or NHS weight loss programmes, research suggests.
Experts said “little has changed” in the past decade in accessing support, despite obesity levels continuing to rise.
The research, led by the University of Bristol and published in the journal PLOS Medicine, was based on GP data from more than 1.8 million adults in England who were overweight or obese.
The study covered the period January 2007 to June 2020, during which time 56,783 (3%) people were referred to weight management programmes and 3,701 (1%) of 436,501 adults with severe and complex obesity underwent bariatric (weight loss) surgery.
The study suggests that access to weight management interventions in England needs improvement— Dr Karen Coulman
The research found large regional differences in the results, with patients from the West Midlands more than twice as likely to be referred as those in the North West, while those from the East of England were half as likely as those in the North West.
Meanwhile, patients from London were more than three times as likely to undergo bariatric surgery as those in the North West.
Dr Karen Coulman, the study’s lead author and a research fellow at Bristol Medical School, told the PA news agency: “We looked at referrals for any type of service to help manage weight. This could include services delivered in the community -slimming clubs for example – or through hospitals (multidisciplinary specialist weight management programmes).
“We also looked separately at whether people underwent NHS bariatric surgery.
“The study suggests that access to weight management interventions in England needs improvement. Little has changed over the past decade, yet obesity rates rise.
“There are marked regional differences in access to weight management programmes including surgery. Attention and investment are needed.”
Dr Coulman agreed that some patients may have been offered weight management programmes but turned them down.
“Our study looked at whether a referral was made, not whether it was offered or taken up,” she said.
Obesity costs the NHS around £6.5 billion a year and is the second biggest preventable cause of cancer.
More than one in four (26%) adults and 23% of children aged 10 to 11 in England are obese.
As well as NHS-funded weight loss programmes, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) has approved semaglutide jabs for those who are obese and who have a weight-related health condition such as diabetes or high blood pressure.
The liraglutide jab (also called Saxenda) is also approved on the NHS.
