£1 for every pound lost to curb obesity
Obese patients in Essex will be offered £1 for each pound of weight they lose as part of a new NHS scheme.
Obese patients are to be paid to lose weight in the first scheme of its kind in the UK. Volunteers will be given a £1 shopping voucher for every pound in weight they shed under a pilot scheme in Essex.
The Pound-for-Pound project by NHS South West Essex mimics a similar programme in the USA which gives overweight people an incentive to diet and exercise.
Sarah Stanton, 36, has already signed up for the scheme. Weighing in at 14stone 7lbs she hopes to shed two-and-a-half stone;
“I saw the poster and just thought, ‘why not?’ I have gone on loads of diets before and they have not worked so I thought I’d give it a go. I’m not excessively overweight and I just want to get fit and healthy.”
The pilot project, which will be run by the Council’s cultural services department, is inviting 100 volunteers to take part and if successful could be rolled out across the UK. The scheme was comissioned after discovering a quarter of the district’s adult population is obese and the area ranked ‘significantly worse’ than the national average.
Recent figures show only one in ten adults is getting enough exercise and three-quarters do not eat a healthy diet.
Due to start in September the scheme will give volunteers advice on how to lose weight, and tell them to return in three months for a weigh-in. Organisers claim the project will be better value for the NHS, instead of paying £75 a month for gym memberships which are often not used after time.
As well as Asda shopping vouchers, dieters will be offered a glamorous photo shoot.
But some weight-loss experts have criticised the scheme saying it could encourage unhealthy methods of losing weight or simply not be sustainable.
Tags: NHS, weight loss
