New diabetes drugs do not tackle root causes of obesity, experts warn

Doctors say preventing obesity by avoiding unhealthy food is better than trying to reverse its effects

The promise of breakthrough drugs to help people lose weight must not be used as an excuse to avoid tackling the root causes of obesity, experts have warned, as concerns grow over a scramble for the slimming jabs.

According to recent figures, the proportion of adults in England who are obese rose from 14.9% to 28% between 1993 and 2019, while NHS England data reveals that in 2019-20 there were 10,780 hospital admissions directly attributable to obesity.