An NHS scheme to prevent type 2 diabetes has helped nearly one million people prevent or delay the condition, the health service has said.
The Healthier You programme is a weight management and lifestyle change initiative, and was among the first diabetes prevention schemes when it launched in 2016.
Nine in ten people living with diabetes in England have type 2, a largely preventable condition. Estimates suggest that 5.5 million people could be living with type 2 by 2030, with the NHS in England spending £10.7 billion diagnosing and treating the condition annually.
Those on the nine-month programme receive personalised face-to-face or digital support for healthier eating, weight maintenance and staying active.
A Manchester University review found the programme reduced a person’s chances of developing type 2 diabetes by 37 per cent and participants lost an average of 3.3kg.
John Adams-Fielding, a 76-year-old retired lorry driver, lost nearly a third of his body weight on the programme.
Adams-Fielding previously weighed 113kg and had a blood glucose level that was classed as pre-diabetic. He was advised in a routine health check that the programme could benefit him.
He joined in June last year and started in-person group sessions. In one of the meetings, about integrating activity into your day, he realised how unhealthy his life had become.
By the end of the programme, he weighed 76.2kg and got his blood glucose level below a pre-diabetic threshold.
“The Healthier You programme has been great for my health and wellbeing, and I’ve particularly enjoyed the programme’s group element,” he said. “I found it more beneficial than ‘solo pursuit’ around losing weight, eating more healthily and becoming more active because of the expert and professional content of the programme.
“Should you be advised to join the programme please give it a chance — and stay its course. You may well find it life-changing, and not too steep a mountain to climb.”
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Dr Clare Hambling, the national clinical director for diabetes and obesity at NHS England, said: “Type 2 diabetes is a growing concern with millions of people affected and, unfortunately, it can increase the risk of major health problems such as heart attack, stroke, amputation, kidney failure and sight loss, as well as increasing the risk of certain types of cancer.
“Doing nothing on this major public health challenge is not an option for the NHS, so we will continue to develop and rollout world-leading initiatives such as our Heathier You programme to help people take action to prevent type 2 diabetes.”
Baroness Merron, the parliamentary undersecretary for health and social care, said that the news was a “tremendous milestone” and that preventing illness was “at the heart of our mission to build an NHS fit for the future”.