NHS pays obese men £400 to lose weight in ‘Game of Stones’ – sending daily text messages to ‘avoid kebabs’

CHUNKY Brits could be paid to receive daily messages from their GP reminding them to lose weight.

One trial found that men were more likely to lose weight if they were motivated by a cash prize from the NHS in exchange for receiving the messages and achieving weight loss goals.

They could gain £400 if they lost 10% of their body weight in a year, but money was deducted for missing target weight at three, six and 12 months.

Messages to continue were sent to their cell phones every day, with tips and suggestions, such as avoiding takeout on the way home from work.

The study, presented at the European Congress on Obesity, saw 585 men in Bristol, Glasgow and Belfast lose an average of 5% and gain £128.

Experts hope the scheme will pay for itself through savings on treating weight-related illnesses in the future.

Study leader Pat Hoddinott, from the University of Stirling in Scotland, said: “Our research showed that offering cash incentives was a popular and effective way of helping men lose weight.

“The weight lost was greater than many of the behavioral weight management services currently offered across the UK.

“This tends to be very intense and men told us it was important to ease into it because they didn’t have a lot of time in their lives.”

The government-funded trial targeted men because they are less likely to join or remain in traditional NHS weight loss groups.

Men are a particularly difficult group to engage in our healthcare system, so texts and financial incentives are an excellent way forward

Jane DeVille-AlmondBritish Obesity Society

The male trial continues and testing the same technique in women is the researchers’ next step.

Dr Hoddinott said the programme, dubbed “Game of Stones”, is ready to be scaled up across the NHS.

It allows people to diet or exercise however they want, but deducts money from their prize fund if they don’t lose weight and keep it off.

The money is paid into the NHS coffers at the end of the year, and the final amount depends on how much lighter they were.

The men in the study gained an average of £128 each and lost significantly more weight than if they received text messages with no money offered, or none at all.

Dr Hoddinott said the scheme only needs four weigh-ins a year, which would be easier for clinics than current NHS weight loss classes, which offer 12 sessions a year.

This could also reduce high patient dropout rates.

She added: “It’s hard to lose weight and it’s not easy to keep it off.

“As a GP I see this all the time, so I wanted to design something that would be easier for the NHS.”

Research shows that the NHS spends an average of £979 to £1,375 a year caring for an obese patient, compared to £638 for someone of a healthy weight.

Jane DeVille-Almond, of the British Obesity Society, said it would probably also end up being cheaper than paying staff to run weight loss clinics.

Ms DeVille-Almond said: “This is exciting news and we definitely need an easy and cost-effective way to get society to lose weight.

“Men are a particularly difficult group to engage in our healthcare system, so texts and financial incentives are an excellent way forward.”

OBESITY IN ENGLAND

Around 38 per cent of adults in England are overweight and a further 26 per cent are obese.

The NHS says obesity costs £6.1 billion a year, but the total cost of all associated conditions is believed to be much higher.

The free digital weight loss program is open to English adults with a BMI over 30 and diabetes or high blood pressure, and involves diet and exercise advice for 12 weeks.

It is also available to people with a BMI of 27.5 or more – meaning they are obese – if they are from black, Asian or minority ethnicities.