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New research highlights impact of COVID-19 on weight management services in England
The report, led by academics at Leeds Beckett University in collaboration with Public Health England, sets out the extent of the impact of lockdown from March to June 2020 on children, young people, and adults living with overweight and obesity, and the delivery of weight management services supporting behaviour change.
The research, led by Louisa Ells, Professor of Obesity at Leeds Beckett University with colleagues at Leeds Beckett in collaboration with Public Health England, the University of Leeds, and University College London, provides a critical insight into the experiences of patients living with obesity during lockdown and how service providers have adapted to this challenge.
It includes guidance and recommendations for patients, service providers and commissioners– to ensure that services continue and are available to all who need them.
Professor Ells explained: “At the beginning of the COVID-19 lockdown, NHS England advised that all weight management services aimed at changing people’s behaviours were to stop during this period. Some services stopped entirely, and some continued in other formats. Now that we are emerging from the lockdown, public health teams are discussing how and what to offer in future.”
Evidence has shown that people living with obesity are at a higher risk of severe illness from COVID-19 and changes to society to manage the coronavirus pandemic may also have inadvertently promoted weight gain due to emotional eating, physical inactivity and anxiety.
Evidence has shown that people living with obesity are at a higher risk of severe illness from COVID-19 and changes to society to manage the coronavirus pandemic may also have inadvertently promoted weight gain due to emotional eating, physical inactivity and anxiety.
The new report found that 60% of adults and 67% of children and young people living with obesity felt that they were at a higher risk of infection.
Only 30% of respondents felt that they had received enough support or information from their weight management service during lockdown. Almost three quarters of the adult patients surveyed reported their services being cancelled or delayed. for children and young people this was only 10%.
72% of adult respondents and 82% of the children and young people reported that they had used food to manage their emotions. 80% of adults and 82% of children and young people - said they had been less active during lockdown.
of children and young people - said they had been less active during lockdown.
Professor Ells said: “As well as surveying patients, we conducted a series of regional webinars. We heard that the loss of routine had resulted in some people baking and eating for boredom and comfort. The lack of peer support, fear of going outside, and constraints on physical activity opportunities also impacted negatively on people’s activity levels”.
“Many people raised the issue of increased stress and anxiety levels, poor mental health and the impact of food insecurity and access to healthy affordable food. Loss of income is increasing food poverty, and a reliance on food parcels which may not have appropriate dietary options to support weight management.”
The team found that some weight management services have adapted well by providing support through remote delivery, using a variety of different approaches including activity packs, telephone, social media and online support. One-to-one telephone support services were also well-received by clients most in need, or without internet or IT access.
The research team included Ken Clare, a patient with experience of living with obesity who has recently joined Leeds Beckett University’s Applied Obesity Research Centre to help develop new projects which keep people and their views and experiences at the heart of the academic research.
The team are now working on the second phase of this work programme focusing on what is needed to support weight management services as we move into the COVID-19 recovery phase.
Professor Ells added: “It is important to ensure weight management remains a priority, and that we learn from the adaptations made to services so that we can develop more resilient services in the future”.
“I would like to thank the many fantastic service users, and policy and practice colleagues who completed the surveys, took part in the webinars, shared local practice and contributed to the wider consultation, without whom this work would not have been possible. I sincerely hope the evidence and guiding principles outlined in the report, alongside the outputs from our next report, will help support the safe, effective and equitable delivery of future weight management services.”
The full report can be viewed on the Public Health England website.
Image of Professor Ells supplied by Teesside University