GPs can be key to helping men lose weight

Experts from the University of Oxford, Men's Health Forum and Slimming World have called for health professionals to ensure 'gender bias' doesn't prevent them from offering men access to weight loss support.  

Currently only one in 10 patients attending commercial weight management programmes through referral by the NHS are men, but this increased to four in 10 in a recent study where GPs offered referral based purely on BMI, which reduced the risk of gender bias. 

Study author, Professor Paul Aveyard of the University of Oxford said: "Our study found that an NHS referral and a simple recommendation like "I think this could be good for you" is enough to persuade men to cast aside reservations and to give weight management a try. And our data supports previous findings that when men do join these groups, they do very well, better than women in fact".

Slimming World members empowered to resist 'upselling' of unhealthy food

Upselling techniques used in coffee shops, petrol stations, fast food outlets, newsagents, restaurants, cinemas and pubs are fuelling the obesity epidemic by leading customers to consume thousands of additional unsatiating calories, a new report by Slimming World and the Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH) has revealed.

People reported that in the course of a week, verbal 'upselling' leads to 34% of people buying a larger coffee than intended, 33% of people upgrading to a large meal in a fast food outlet and 36% buying sweets or chocolate that they hadn't planned to buy at the till in petrol stations and newsagents --- with the average person consuming around 300 additional calories each week as a result of upselling.

Research of Slimming World members shows that 89 per cent now feel more empowered to say 'just this thanks' when businesses try to upsell to them. To support the public, Slimming World and the RSPH are calling for businesses to be banned from training staff to upsell unhealthy items and for health professionals to use Making Every Contact Count opportunities to prepare people who are worried about their weight for the 'unhealthy conversations' they might face.

Supporting PHE's new walking app

Public Health England (PHE) has launched a new "One You" physical activity campaign that aims to help people improve their health by walking more often and more briskly --- and Slimming World is a partner in it.

Slimming World members were amongst the first people in the country to trial a brand new app called Active 10 ahead of the launch. With many people struggling to build enough brisk walking into an average day, PHE launched the new the Active 10 app to help people to measure their walking in 10 minute chunks, and easily see when they are walking briskly, as well as providing them with helpful hints and tips.  

The app is a great fit with Slimming World's Body Magic activity programme, which encourages members to move more by finding something they enjoy, setting targets and gradually building up towards government guidelines until being active becomes a regular part of their routine.  

Presenting new research at UKCO

Slimming World's Nutrition and Research team presented three research posters at the UK Congress on Obesity (UKCO) conference in Cardiff in September, including:

Six month weight loss outcomes in patients who have received an extended referral to Slimming World i.e. they have been referred to Slimming World by their health professional for 2 consecutive 12 week periods. Findings indicate that provision of targeted longer referral periods can enhance weight losses and support more patients to achieve clinically significant weight losses.

A study looking at the health and wellbeing of Slimming World members compared with the general population indicated that losing weight with Slimming World can improve members' physical health and wellbeing, positively impacting their physical, social and work-based activities.

Research exploring the experiences of Slimming World Consultants supporting members with a learning disability to manage their weight. As part of a wider project, this study has led to the development of "Easy-Read" resources for members with a learning disability.

Role of Healthy Living Pharmacies in weight management

In County Durham, a new Slimming World on Referral model has been used with Healthy Living Pharmacies (HLP), whereby pharmacists can refer patients to Slimming World for 12 weeks of weight loss support. A paper, recently published in the journal 'Perspectives in Public Health', reports on the findings of this pharmacy-led referral programme and compares it to similar GP-led referral programmes.

It was found that patients achieved comparable weight losses, whether being referred through the HLP or the general practice route, losing 4.4% vs 4.7% of their starting weight respectively. The paper highlights the important role that HLPs can play in referring and signposting people with obesity into local weight management services. Referrals through HLPs may also help to widen the diversity of those referred to weight management groups, especially in younger people.

Supporting midwives to lead healthier lifestyles

Slimming World has been working with the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) to support it's "Caring for You" campaign, through the Alliance Partnership. Activities have included developing a series of articles and resources to support RCM members with eating healthily and becoming more active.

The first of these, titled 'Top Tips for Healthy Eating', gives practical advice on preparing and enjoying delicious, healthy meals, while balancing the demands of a busy job and other commitments, and includes a family-friendly recipe for chicken and vegetable curry.

The articles are part of the RCM's 'Caring for You' campaign, which aims to support RCM members' health, safety and wellbeing at work, so they in turn can continue to provide high-quality maternity care for women and their families.

The first article is currently available on the RCM's Caring for You campaign page (scroll down for Slimming World's healthy eating article), and is free to access.

Throughout September, Slimming World is offering free membership to RCM members who would like support to manage their weight.