6 major health benefits to losing weight

A new Better Health marketing campaign has been launched today to help people prevent risks of developing serious illness and help reduce the risk of being hospitalised with COVID-19.

From reducing the risk of serious diseases such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease and up to 12 types of cancer, to lowering the chances of being hospitalised with COVID-19, the multimedia campaign highlights the serious health conditions which could be prevented by losing excess weight and offers free support and guidance to achieve this goal.

It is estimated that over 3 in 5 adults (see reference 1) are at an increased risk from serious diseases as a result of being overweight. Losing just 5% of body weight can seriously reduce the chance of heart disease and could make all the difference in preventing treatable heart conditions (see reference 2).

The new campaign highlights 6 benefits that could have a lasting impact on a person’s health by being a healthier weight:

1. Decreased risk of common cancers (colon, liver, pancreas, kidney)
2. Lowered risk of increased blood pressure
3. Reduced risk of heart disease
4. Less risk of developing diabetes
5. Less strain from chronic back and joint pain
6. Decreased risk of being hospitalised or becoming seriously ill with COVID-19

Free, local weight management services are provided by most local authorities – visit the Better Health website to find out more