Study shows that having a short thirty second talk with doctors or GP’s about weight can be enough to get patients to immediately start shedding the pounds. The research, published by Lancet and complied by University of Oxford researchers found that the chat was non-offensive to patients and that some patients lost an incredible 10% of their body weight after being convinced to try a free weight-loss programme.
Researchers add that if all doctors did the same, there could be a huge effect. Currently, the NHS is under huge stress by the amount of obese, diabetic and at risk patients coming in and out who disregard the severity of their illnesses.
2728 severely overweight people were part of the trial. They attended appointments with their GP’s for unrelated ailments when the doctors prompted a discussion about their weight. Half of them were offered a free place on weight-loss programmes. After a year, a quarter of them had shed 10% of their body weight.
Amazingly, those not offered the support still ended up slimming down too, losing an average of 2.2lb.
University of Oxford Professor and GP Paul Aveyard told the BBC:
“The impact is pretty substantial given the effort – 30 seconds – that went into it. If we were year-on-year to knock 2.4kg off the heaviest people in society, then that would have a very big effect in health terms.
“This should be added into the repertoire of things we all attend to in appointments like flu jabs, blood pressure and stopping smoking.”
