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The Health Survey for England 2021 estimates that 25.9% of adults in England are obese and a further 37.9% are overweight but not obese. Obesity is usually defined as having a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or above. BMI between 25 and 30 is classified as ‘overweight’.
The survey, published in December 2022, found that men are more likely than women to be overweight or obese (68.6% of men, 59.0% of women). People aged 45-74 are most likely to be overweight or obese.
This is highlighted in the table below:
Source: NHS Digital, Health Survey for England, Table 1
Now more than ever, it is imperative that pharmacy professionals and their teams assist in addressing weight management and obesity. Increasing rates of adults in the overweight and obese categories in the UK population negatively impact the economy and reduce life expectancy in the obese population.
| The role of community pharmacy in weight management and obesity
As a community pharmacy, you are well-placed to initiate conversations about weight management and obesity with the general public. It is important that you embrace these conversations to speak to your patients about their weight. It is encouraged within the pharmacy contract in England where it is part of the pharmacy quality scheme (PQS) within their Healthy Living domain. By, non-registered and registered patient-facing pharmacy staff, completing the training required to meet the requirement for this domain the pharmacy workforce is already empowered with some knowledge to help support patients with weight management and obesity concerns. |
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| The NPA hub
This Tackling Weight Management and Obesity in Community Pharmacy has been developed to assist you in finding all the information you need to get involved and keep up to date with services and information about weight management and obesity. We have proposed a step-by-step journey for easy use of our hub. This journey is most suitable for individuals who are completely new to the weight management and obesity space. If you already are running a service or have some information, feel free to click on the most relevant section of the hub to you. If you would like to register your interest to find out more from the NPA team, please click here.
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References
