‘Drugs alone not the answer', says top GP as he talks about weight loss jabs
A leading GP and TV medic has told fitness industry professionals gathered in Bolton that drugs alone are not the way to fight obesity.
Dr Hussain 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, shared this sentiment at a professional development event for the health, fitness, and wellbeing sector.
He was addressing the professionals, at the Bolton Arena Community Sports Village, on the roll-out of GLP-1 drugs, sometimes referred to colloquially as fat jabs or fat pills.
These medicines, which can be taken as tablets or injections, are used to treat type 2 diabetes and can aid weight loss by reducing a patient's appetite.
Dr Al-Zubaidi said: "The roll-out of GLP-1s within primary care is very much the hot topic at the moment.
"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."
His remarks come during an ongoing debate within the fitness sector about the role of GLP-1s in addressing obesity.
The event was hosted by the LFX network in partnership with GM Active, a group made up of 12 leisure and community organisations – including Bolton Arena – that manage most publicly owned leisure and physical activity facilities on behalf of the 10 authorities across Greater Manchester.
GM Active chair, Andy King, said: "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."
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Dr Al-Zubaidi added: "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."
Neil Hutchinson, managing director of Bolton Arena Community Sports Village, said: "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."
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