People deserve better than just drugs to fight the battle against obesity, according to leading GP and TV medic, Dr Hussain Al-Zubaidi.
Dr Al-Zubaidi, a regular guest on Channel 4’s ‘Steph’s Packed Lunch’ and the lifestyle and physical activity lead for the Royal College of General Practitioners, was addressing a Bolton gathering of fitness industry professionals discussing the roll out of GLP-1 drugs – sometimes referred to colloquially as fat jabs or fat pills.
GLP-1 medicines, which can be taken as tablets or as injections, are used to treat type 2 diabetes and can aid weight loss by reducing a patient’s appetite.
“The roll out of GLP-1s within primary care is very much the hot topic at the moment, says Dr Al-Zubaidi. “It is going to transform how we deliver primary care – and a lot of other things.
“As we roll out GLP-1 therapies in primary care, we must resist the temptation to settle for the minimal scalable model of lifestyle support. I was emphasising that people deserve better than that.
“Our patients deserve a comprehensive, multi-component approach – nutrition, behavioural and psychological support, sleep and stress management, physical activity, and addiction care all working in harmony.”
Dr Al-Zubaidi was the speaker at a professional development networking event for the health, fitness and wellbeing sector held at the Bolton Arena Community Sports Village.
The network, known as LFX, is made of over 40 leisure operators who meet regularly to share and evolve ideas.
The Bolton event was organised in conjunction with GM Active, a collective of 12 leisure and community organisations – including the Arena – managing the majority of the publicly owned leisure and physical activity assets on behalf Greater Manchester’s 10 local authorities.
GM Active Chair, Andy King, says: “It’s not often a ‘moment in time’ occurs that you know will be considered a ‘turning point’ in the future, yet this event will be one of those, I am sure.
“Thanks to the LFX network, GM Active is set fair to really understand how we can support those people who, through one way or another, have opted to utilise these tools to assist them to lose weight and help them to sustain their gains for the longer term through pragmatic and people-centred, wrap around support.”
Dr Al-Zubaidi adds: “The fitness professionals in that packed room have shown they’re ready to play their part – now it’s time for all of us to turn that eagerness into action.”
Bolton Arena Community Sports Village MD, Neil Hutchinson, says: “We’ve been working on a new health and wellbeing strategy for Bolton over the last six months, so I was keen to host this event and be at the front of this discussion. We aim to be on the front foot with this in Bolton and ready to support local GPs and primary care in this revolutionary healthcare development.”
