VOTE: Huge rise in use of obesity drugs (From The Bolton News)

VOTE: Huge rise in use of obesity drugs

8:48am Friday 1st February 2008 in

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MORE than one million prescriptions for obesity drugs are now given out to patients, figures showed yesterday.

There were 1.06 million prescription items for obesity drugs in 2006 - more than eight times the 127,000 figure for 1999.

The drugs orlistat (Xenical) and sibutramine (Reductil) made up the bulk of the prescriptions issued by GPs in England in 2006.

Opposition parties said the figures showed the Government was losing the battle against the rising tide of obesity.

The data was released by the Information Centre for health and social care as part of a wider report on obesity and the health of people in England.

It showed that, in 2006, more than one in 10 adults aged 16 and over were diagnosed with a cardiovascular disease such as coronary heart disease or angina.

A total of 24 per cent of all adults were also classified as obese in the health survey.

The report comes a week after the Government launched a £372 million strategy aimed at cutting levels of obesity in England.

It included researching whether people should be given vouchers or other incentives to help them lose weight.

Other key findings in yesterday's report were:

• People on low incomes were most likely to have cardiovascular disease and they ate low levels of fruit and vegetables and took little exercise.

• Men on high incomes were most likely to be overweight (but not obese).

• More and more adults were achieving recommended levels of exercise in 2006. But, even then, just 28 per cent of women and 40 per cent of men took part in at least 30 minutes of activity at least five days a week.

Professor Alan Maryon-Davis, president of the Faculty of Public Health, told the BBC: "Doctors and other health professionals do not have the time to spend on the in-depth diet and exercise advice that is really needed.

"So my fear is that these drugs of last resort are actually used quite early on. It is too easy to turn to the prescription pad."