The NHS public health programme, Healthier You, has supported an additional 166,360 adults in England to address their diabetes risk in the past year.
The Healthier You programme helps people lose weight and make lifestyle changes to stop or delay them from developing Type 2 diabetes. Since it was launched in 2016, more than 900,000 adults at high risk of developing Type 2 diabetes have used the programme.
Research by Manchester University found that completing the Healthier You programme reduces someone’s chance of developing Type 2 diabetes by 37%, and participants typically achieve an average weight loss of 3.3kg.
The NHS in England typically spends around £10.7 billion a year on identifying and treating diabetes.
Just under half (45%) of those taking part in Healthier You are men – a much higher proportion than typically attend weight loss programmes.
The programme lasts nine months and is designed to stop or delay the onset of Type 2 diabetes by giving people personalised support on healthier eating, maintaining a healthy weight and keeping physically active.
Healthier You is available both as a face-to-face group service and as a digital service. Participants enrolled in the digital service get support similar to those in a group, using electronic tools to help them address their diabetes risk.
These include wearable technologies that monitor levels of exercise, apps where users can access health coaches, online peer support groups and the ability to set and monitor goals electronically.
Minister for public health and prevention, Ashley Dalton, said it was ‘great to see’ so many people engaging in the programme that was reducing risk ‘through small everyday lifestyle changes’.
‘We know that prevention is better than treatment, and that tackling the root causes of type 2 diabetes, such as obesity and inactivity, is one of the keys to tackling cardiovascular-related illness,’ she said.
People can self-register for the Healthier You programme if they have been identified as being at risk of developing Type 2 diabetes from their blood sugars, or they can request a direct referral from their GP.
Health leaders are urging people to become more aware of their risk of developing Type 2 diabetes during Type 2 Diabetes Prevention Week 2025 (26 May to 1 June).
People can find out their personal risk score for developing Type 2 diabetes by using the specialist online Know Your Risk tool hosted by Diabetes UK. The latest data shows it has been used nearly 3.3 million times.
Dr Clare Hambling, national clinical director for diabetes and obesity at NHS England, said the tool was ‘a quick and easy way of calculating your chance of getting Type 2 diabetes’.
There are around 2 million people in England at high risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, which is largely preventable through lifestyle changes.
A version of this story first appeared on our sister title Pulse PCN.
