Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of the prescription of weight loss drugs on the NHS without associated prescriptions of exercise and physical activity on muscle mass.

Weight loss drugs, including semaglutide, tirzepatide and liraglutide, are recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) as clinically and cost-effective treatment options on the National Health Service for obesity. The guidance from NICE states that these drugs should be prescribed alongside a reduced-calorie diet and increased physical activity, and that healthcare professionals should arrange information, support, and counselling on additional diet, physical activity, and behavioural strategies when these drugs are prescribed. As such, healthcare professionals in the NHS should not be prescribing weight loss drugs without arranging information and support on physical activity and exercise. The Government has therefore not made an assessment of the potential impact of the prescription of weight loss drugs on the NHS without ‘associated prescriptions’ of exercise and physical activity on muscle mass.