Results from the NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme show 89,604 people have lost a combined weight of 185,051kg – the equivalent weight of 43 ambulances.
A lack of exercise, poor diet and being overweight are all risk factors for developing Type 2 diabetes. The 9-12 month programme involves expert advice on dieting, exercise and healthy lifestyle and is designed to stop or delay the onset of the condition through a range of personalised lifestyle interventions, including:
• education on lifestyle choices
• advice on how to reduce weight through healthier eating
• bespoke physical activity programmes.
The programme will now double in size to treat around 200,000 people every year, as part of the NHS Long Term Plan. The programme’s success builds on wider measures to tackle both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes in the NHS Long Term Plan. Around 30,000 people with Type 1 diabetes have already benefited from life-changing wearable glucose monitors since it became more widely available on the NHS last year.