Two in five Brits secretly suspect a friend is using weight loss treatments – but most are too scared to ask them about it, a new study reveals.
Research, conducted for Well Pharmacy, found four in 10 Brits believe a friend (30%) or a close friend (13%) have been using weight loss services to help manage their weight.
The findings suggest that all Brits can think of at least one person in their life who is currently using, or has in the past, used weight loss treatments to slim down.
However, the study also reveals three-quarters (75%) of Brits would never dream of asking a friend – or anyone they know – whether they’d had medical help to lighten the load.
The most common excuse for not inquiring is that it’s ‘none of their business’ (49%), over one in 10 (15%) worry they might offend while a similar number fear they might be wrong.
Some 1.5 million people in the UK use weight-loss treatments to manage their size [1], though that number continues to rise after GPs were given the green light to prescribe them last month [2].
According to the study, a quarter of Brits (24%) suspect a work colleague has used a weight loss service while around one in 10 (13%) put a neighbour’s change in appearance down to the drugs.
Gen X women are the age group most likely to believe a friend has used weight-loss treatments but they are also the most afraid to find out.
Eight in 10 (80%) women aged 44 to 59 admit they would prefer not to ask someone whether they had used treatments to shed the pounds.
The research comes as Well Pharmacy launches its in-store weight loss management service across all of it’s stores, which offers one-to-one coaching with one of their expert pharmacists.
Well Pharmacy is one of the UK’s largest pharmacy chains, with over 700 branches nationwide. Well provide services such as flu vaccinations, blood pressure checks, and health advice, alongside prescription services.
The pharmacists will talk to patients about their weight loss journey, their objectives as well as measuring their blood pressure and tracking their weight on a monthly basis.
Well Pharmacy’s Mital Thakrar hopes that patients will see the benefit from the services offered.
He said: ‘More and more people are turning to weight-loss treatments as a way to successfully manage their size.
‘Here at Well Pharmacy, we believe it’s important to consider the weight loss journey as a holistic one, where we can support the patient throughout their journey. Our face to face interaction ensures we can tailor the advice to the patient and we can support them by measuring their blood pressure and BMI on a monthly basis in store. This way we can be confident that the treatments are safe and effective for patients and we can be on hand to answer any of their questions or concerns.
‘During these one-to-one consultations, the patient can discuss all aspects of the treatment, whether that be increasing their dosage or stopping treatment.’
Each pharmacist across every Well store will ensure that patients are safely adhering to their weight loss programme.