An NHS scheme that sends obese patients to slimming classes and gives them free Fitbits has cut diabetes rates by one fifth.
The NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme, also known as Healthier You, offers health advice alongside free cookery and exercise sessions online or in person. Participants are given NHS-funded Fitbits or smart watches to monitor their activity to help them lose weight.
More than 1.2 million adults with pre-diabetes — when blood sugar is raised but they are not yet suffering from type 2 diabetes — have been referred to the programme since 2016, preventing tens of thousands of cases of the disease.
In the largest study evaluating the programme, experts at the University of Manchester looked at data from 18,470 patients referred to it.
Read more at: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/nhs-prevention-programme-diabetes-rate-obesity-uk-2023-zvmlz9h7x
