Yorkshire at the forefront in helping adults living with obesity and diabetes

Weight management experts at Leeds Beckett University will lead a £1.5m NHS programme – which aims to provide targeted support to adults living with obesity and type 2 diabetes.

Researchers say the project could significantly improve the health of the population, including people in Yorkshire, while reducing health inequalities and saving the NHS millions of pounds of future costs.

The action plan, which will evaluate the new NHS low calorie diet scheme, comes as an estimated 3.5 million people in the UK are currently living with a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes.

In England, 26 per cent of men and 29 per cent of women live with obesity. Adults who live with obesity are seven times more likely to develop type 2 diabetes.

Professor Louisa Ells, the lead researcher, from Leeds Beckett University, said the three year funded project had added "national urgency," given the higher morbidity and mortality rates associated with COVID-19 infection and people living with obesity and diabetes.

Ms Ells, a professor of obesity within the Applied Obesity Research Centre (AORC), at the university, said: "Recent studies have shown that for some people who live with obesity and type 2 diabetes, a low calorie diet can help them lose weight, reduce their risk of heart disease, and put their diabetes into remission.

"Given the higher morbidity and mortality associated with COVID-19 infection observed in patients living with obesity and diabetes, there is increased national urgency to support these patients – whilst also meeting long-term plans for the NHS to significantly improve the health of our population, and reduce health inequalities and associated future costs to the NHS."

NHS England and NHS Improvement has launched the pilot low calorie diet programme across 10 areas of the country to run over the next three years.

Areas in the region are South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw and the Humber Coast and Vale.

While the other eight areas are Derbyshire, Greater Manchester, Birmingham and Solihull, North East London, North Central London, Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes, Gloucestershire and Frimley.

Those involved in the programme will be provided with low calorie, nutritionally complete, total diet replacement products - including soups, bars and shakes - consisting of up to 900 calories a day, for up to 12 weeks.

This is accompanied by 12 months of support to help patients re-introduce food and maintain their weight loss following completion of the period of total diet replacement, which is provided either in a group, one-to-one, or via digital technology.

The expert team, which will also include academics from the University of York, the University of Leeds and Sheffield Hallam University from Yorkshire, along side experts from Lancaster University, and Teesside University, will conduct an evaluation of the NHS pilot.

The research has received £1,502,156.92 of funding from the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Health Services and Delivery Research funding programme. It will run until October 2023.

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