Exercise “must form part” of any strategy featuring weight-loss drugs

Any plans to use weight loss drugs as part of a preventative healthcare model – or using the jabs to get people living with obesity back into work – needs to be accompanied with a strategy to get people more physically active.

That is the message from industry bodies ukactive and CIMSPA, following the government’s announcement that it was looking at investing in weight-loss drug GLP-1.

Speaking on BBC Breakfast on 15 October, Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, said new weight-loss jabs could get people “back into work” to boost the economy.

He added that injections could also help reduce pressure on the NHS.

“I think these drugs could be very important for our economy and for health,” the PM said. “This drug will be very helpful to people who want to lose weight, need to lose weight, very important for the economy so people can get back into work.

“Very important for the NHS because, as I’ve said time and again, yes, we need more money for our NHS, but we’ve got to think differently.”

Following the PM’s interview, ukactive and CIMSPA issued a statement highlighting that weight-loss drugs alone weren’t a “magic bullet” – and any strategy to use them to help population health should be accompanied with exercise.

In a statement, the industry bodies said: “Advances in medicine have a vital role to play for people suffering from the severest forms of obesity but the national adoption of weight-loss drugs is no substitute for a strategy that encompasses physical activity and diet too.”