Public health authorities should consider commissioning a range of commercial weight loss programmes to help in the fight against obesity, University of Birmingham researchers have found.
The researchers, who have already carried out a clinical trial to compare a range of weight management programmes with free leisure centre vouchers, were previously unable to directly compare the effectiveness of the main UK commercial programmes. Evidence of effectiveness of Weight Watchers has been shown in three previous trials. The researchers set out to observe whether two other commercial services - Slimming World and Rosemary Conley – were inferior to Weight Watchers, and found that they were not
They also showed that an NHS weight loss programme, compared in the same observational study, produced significantly less weight loss after three months.
In the new study, 3,290 overweight patients were offered a choice of free weight loss programme from several and had their weight loss recorded at three and 12 months later, before comparing them against Weight Watchers. The trial was designed to discover if any programmes were inferior to Weight Watchers – and found that only the NHS programme was.
Participants were recruited from the Lighten Up weight management service commissioned by South Birmingham Primary Care Trust, and invited to participate by their GP. The criteria for inclusion including being over 18 and with a raised body mass index.
After three months, the Weight Watchers group had lost an average of 4.2kg, Slimming World participants had lost an average of 4kg and Rosemary Conley, an average of 3.3kg. However, those who chose to take part in the NHS programme had only lost an average of 1.6kg.
And although the weight losses converged for the groups at 12 months, the NHS programme was still the least successful, with an average loss of 2.5kg, compared to 3.7kg for WeightWatchers, 3.1kg for Rosemary Conley and 4.5kg for Slimming World.
The researchers said that the findings showed that practical differences between the three commercial programmes were small and that all three should be commissioned by public health providers, giving a greater amount of personal choice to patients which, they said, should extend take-up of the services.
Claire Madigan, from the School of Health and Population Sciences at the University of Birmingham, who led the study, said: “This research will provide really useful information for commissioners of weight management services, essentially that commercial programmes result in similar weight losses and in this case result in more weight loss than an NHS programme. ”
The study What weight loss programmes are as effective as Weight Watchers: non-inferiority analysis is published in the British Journal of General Practice today (Saturday).
A murder suspect wanted in connection with a fatal stabbing outside a chicken takeaway now has a £6,000 price on his head.
Niron Parker-Lee is being sought over the death of Mansoor Mahmood , who was found outside Dixi Chicken in High Street, Brierley Hill , at around 4.45pm on October 15 last year.
Crimestoppers regional manager, Pauline Hadley, said he was “dangerous” and should not be approached by the public .
Ms Hadley said: “Mr Mahmood’s wife and family are desperate for answers and they deserve to see justice.
“This poor young man died after being senselessly attacked with a knife on a busy street in Brierley Hill.
“Nineteen-year-old Niron Parker-Lee must be found as he is wanted for questioning regarding this crime.
“Someone somewhere will know where he is and they can contact our charity’s UK contact centre on the phone or online while remaining 100 per cent anonymous.”
Mr Mahmood, 24, of Bague Walk, Brierley Hill, died after he was stabbed in the stomach following a clash outside the takeaway.
A Dixi worker said at the time that the victim staggered inside and pleaded: “help me” before collapsing on the floor.
The employee said: “It was really scary for everyone inside – no-one knew where he had come from or what had happened.
Matthew Stride and Sir Doug Ellis, who has donated £100,000 to Birmingham Queen Elizabeth hospital for a scanner
Sir Doug Ellis’ Aston Villa connections have prompted an act of kindness benefiting a Birmingham hospital.
The former Villa chairman has funded a £250,000 piece of equipment at Queen Elizabeth Hospital after being touched by the plight of his Steve Stride’s son.
Matthew Stride, 26, whose dad was club secretary under Sir Doug at Villa for more than three decades, recently had an operation to remove a brain tumour.
Sir Doug was at the hospital yesterday to present a a cheque for £100,000, which is worth £125,000 with government Gift Aid taken into account.
Ismail Ughratdar, the Consultant Neurosurgeon who performed the operation on Matthew, and Mike Hammond, Chief Executive of QEHB Charity, gratefully received the cheque from Sir Doug.
Sir Doug said: “I’m so pleased to be able to financially support this piece of equipment which I heard about and in particular for Matthew Stride.
“He’s the son of my secretary at Aston Villa, Steven Stride, who was with me for 35 years and I’m only too pleased to be able to finance this wonderful piece of equipment.”
It is much safer and more accurate than the only current alternatives for this type of brain surgery, which include an ‘awake craniotomy’, wherein the patient remains conscious while the surgeon operates on their brain and is asked to sing or speak throughout so that the doctor knows they haven’t ‘gone too far’.
Matthew was able to have a pre-surgery scan using the Nexstim device, which was being trialled at the QE at the time.
He said: I recently had a craniotomy operation to remove a tumour from my brain. This machine helped save the use of my left arm, without this machine I would have lost all use in my left arm.
“It’s been fantastic. The surgeons at the QE have been amazing and the staff here have just been fantastic.