Labour should invest in weight loss medications immediately

[HowToSaveTheNHS]

AIBU to think the Labour government should seriously consider rolling out weight loss drugs to the obese population, to tackle obesity, diabetes and cut NHS waiting lists? Traditional public health measures to tackle obesity are not working.

We spend so much money treating disease associated with obesity and it’s only going to get worse as increasing numbers of people are living for decades with multiple health conditions associated with obesity. Even dementia’s leading cause is Type 2 diabetes.

Looking at the Mounjaro thread on here, huge numbers of Mumsnetters are successfully losing weight and improving their health. But people on lower incomes won’t have access because the drugs are expensive.

A course of drugs for a year will surely be money well spent if we can reduce heart disease/ diabetes/ dementia/ cancer etc… even hypertension.

No because after a year when those people stop the medication they will just put the weight back on.

Given that we don't know the long term implications of these drugs for health I think widespread use outside the severely obese would be a bad idea. A better idea would be to better regulate the food industry, improve food labelling and sort out food in schools, hospitals and other institutions.

How about banning or extra taxing fast food and other rubbish that you get delivered (don't even have to get off your arse to go and collect)

Unpopular opinion - but no. The general public have enough information to hand on losing weight safely.

Most will be able to lose weight via traditional methods. Such drugs should ONLY be reserved for the most severe cases i.e those with mental health issues exacerbating the weight gain.

Please can you link to the thread you mention?

There's a really interesting article in The Times today about this exact subject by Dr Tim Spector. The point he makes is that weight loss drugs don't tackle the underlying issue, which is that a lot of the food that is marketed to us is extremely bad for us and that if people are taking Ozempic or whatever, but still eating junk they aren't actually improving their health long-term. You can't stay on those drugs forever, at some point you have to come off them and if you haven't addressed the reasons why you were overweight in the first place, you'll just go back to being overweight again.

I agree, but also weight loss surgery should be more easily available on the NHS too.

I thought the research showed that if you only had a course of the drugs you would lose the weight but then it goes back on when you stop taking it? Or is that the other new weight loss injection?

If this were even remotely true why are there so many overweight people in the country? Are you saying they’re just lazy? That they know exactly how to improve their health and well being but just can’t be bothered?

I would prefer banning UPF and fast food establishments first before putting large swaths of the population on drugs.

If you don't deal with the problems behind the obesity then they'll just put it back on.

I'm obese, I know why and it's not emotional eating rather I lead a very sedentary lifestyle. It never used to be like that but WFH in a flat means if I don't make an active effort to go outside or do an exercise DVD I can easily do less than 1000 steps a day. In my previous job I did 15k easy. I know how to lose weight, I enjoy healthy eating and actually love exercise but fitting it in can be difficult.

Do people think Labour won and now have a magic money tree or something?

Most people can lose weight through the usual calories in, calories out.

I didn't say it was easy but it IS true,

No way should taxpayers fund people who for the most part, can do it themselves.

We don't have the money for it - it should be reserved for the most serious cases.

Better investment in mental health services would be a better option.

Doesn’t ozempic cause blindness?

They could. But it's a false economy if people don't get more active and keep up the weight loss in the future.

Where will these come from ? There are still supply issues within the NHS and diabetics have problems obtaining their Semaglutide injections.

Maybe the government should be doing something about all the online private sales of the medication seriously compromising NHS supplies.

I think a lot of people are going to be VERY disappointed by the new Labour government, because their expectations for what they can/will do are so wildly unrealistic.

I would rather spend the money investing in food production to make fruits and vegetables super cheap.

Funny isn’t it.

I agree with this.
The real problem is that food companies invest huge amounts to make their products as addictive as they can possibly be. This is why so many peoples appetites are dysregulated.
The problem is hyperpalatable food; edible food-like substances which trick us into eating far more food than is good for us.

Absolutely op. I’m on Mounjaro and I’ve lost nearly 5 stone. I’m no longer obese and my health is so much better. I have to pay privately thou for the medication.

The NHS is hopeless at treating obesity. Here is an extremely effective treatment that has the potential to hugely improve health outcomes and reduce spending on other types of healthcare (obesity affects everything from diabetes to heart health to knee health). Why isnt it being offered on the NHS?

They should heavily tax upfs and use the money to subsidise fresh food.

I'd like to see more recognition of how medication can impact weight. I gained weight dramatically on steroids, it all fell off when I stopped them. Thankfully I was only on them for a short period as I reacted badly in a lot of other ways . But it was a very sobering experience

Yes I do think that a lot of people are lazy and don't have the motivation to lose weight. It takes a lot of willpower to stick to a diet and exercise regularly. Plus we need to stop normalising overweight people.

That’s the same with anything. The research shows people on injectable weight loss treatments are less likely to put weight back on that other dieters. But even if it was the same - should we stop people losing weight (or giving up drugs or alcohol) because they might go back to their old ways?