Greater freedom to advertise responsible weight loss programmes is victory in fight against obesity

Slimming World has lobbied widely for an overhaul of outdated advertising laws that were potentially causing harm to thousands of adults and children suffering from obesity in the UK and cited it as one of its five manifesto calls to the new Government earlier this year.

The ASA - the UK’s independent regulator of advertising across all media - has announced a change in the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) Codes for weight control. “After careful consideration, including a full public consultation, we have today announced changes to the advertising rules that will allow, for the first time, advertisers of responsible lifestyle weight loss programmes to make reference to obesity in their advertising, and therefore target people who are obese,” said the ASA in a statement.

Jenny Caven, Head of Public Affairs at Slimming World, welcomed the ASA’s decision and said: “We have been concerned for a number of years that the CAP codes were outdated and could lead people with a BMI over 30 – those who are at the greatest risk of potentially life-threatening diseases including type 2 diabetes, heart disease and cancer – to believe that support from evidence based commercial weight loss companies was not an option available to them and as a result seek out more drastic weight loss methods.

“We fully understand, and support, the need for strict regulations to protect the public from harmful practice and unscrupulous operators within the commercial weight loss industry. However, grouping all organisations in the weight management sector under a single banner was harming the very people who most need help in tackling their weight problems.”

The ASA says that given ‘the fact that some programmes have become recognised as safe and effective ways for people to lose weight, they consider it is disproportionate to prohibit them from advertising their services to people who are obese. This rule change provides those who want help in losing weight, and who might benefit from a lifestyle weight loss programme, with more information, choice and support’.

Only those advertisers who meet particular criteria will be able to make reference to and target people who are obese. In order to meet the criteria, weight loss programmes must:

• be shown to be effective at 12 months or beyond
• last at least three months
• be multi-component; addressing dietary intake, physical activity levels and behaviour change
• be developed by a multi-disciplinary team; including input from a registered dietitian, registered practitioner psychologist and a qualified physical activity instructor
• be provided by staff who are trained to deliver the programme in question

Jenny added: “The ASA’s new criteria fits well with Slimming World’s unique programme of a multi-component approach in which a highly developed support system is used to facilitate changes in behaviour, to diet, and activity levels and provide our members with the tools to manage their weight and wellbeing in the long term.

“Our support system is a complex process of individual support in a powerfully motivating group setting made simple for our members who learn how to shop, cook and eat more healthily and are encouraged and supported to become more physically active. Consultants receive in-depth training to facilitate changes in behaviour, diet and activity levels, and help members to develop strategies to cope with any challenges they face in day to day life.

“These changes in the CAP codes mean that we will be able to reach out to thousands more people in the UK who struggle to lose weight by making sustainable lifestyle changes. We now have the freedom to demonstrate, through our websites and marketing materials, how we can help those people who are most overweight where in the past we’ve only been able to reach them through real life stories and word of mouth.”