Will dishing out weight loss jabs solve Britain’s obesity crisis? Fat chance
HIGH Street chemist Boots is selling a weight-loss jab but it comes with all sorts of caveats.
Wegovy — also known as semaglutide — will only be available via an “online prescription” issued following a questionnaire, you should have a BMI of 30 or over, it should be aligned with a healthier diet and exercise regime and usage must cease within two years.
But people lie on questionnaires, right?
They also fail to follow a “guideline” if it doesn’t suit their needs.
And given that seeing a human GP is now rarer than a hen’s teeth, will the “online doctors” be real or chatbots following an “acceptable answer” algorithm?
Either way, as has already happened in other countries, it will undoubtedly be used as a quick-fix weight-loss tool by people who don’t have a medical issue linked to obesity and simply want to project an image of physical perfection without putting in the hard work it usually requires.
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In Australia, where prescription-only medicines can’t be advertised to the public, regulators are already investigating social media influencers who are promoting Ozempic, a diabetes and weight-loss jab, without mentioning its potential side-effects of nausea, diarrhoea or constipation.
Equally, a 2002 study showed that, after stopping the jabs, users regain most of the weight they lost.
Of course they do, because the only way to stay fit and healthy is to avoid quick fixes, eat sensibly and move more.
The experts know this, the rest of us know this and the Government knows this too.
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Yet rather than tackle the root causes of this country’s escalating obesity issue, they prefer to facilitate the pernicious downward spiral of the food industry flogging us processed meals full of fat and sugar that make us pile on weight, followed by the diet industry flogging us “quick-fix” solutions to try to lose it.
Healthy lifestyle choices
It’s madness. But, of course, these industries have powerful lobbyists who fight change and pay a lot of tax to swell the government coffers.
So now there’s a coming to a high street near you, which will inevitably mean greater demand from those who don’t need it leading to shorter supplies for those who genuinely do.
A spokesperson at Boots said: “Wegovy is a prescription-only weight-loss medicine that can help to regulate appetite and reduce cravings. It can be an effective medicine to achieve sustained weight loss when used alongside a reduced- calorie diet, increased physical activity and healthy lifestyle choices.”
Sounds good on paper and when prescribed responsibly by a GP who has seen someone face to face, professionally assessed their genuine need and put a simultaneous diet and exercise programme in place.
But is dishing it out online to all and sundry going to solve Britain’s obesity crisis? Fat chance.
MADONNA reckons that criticism of her surgically-altered appearance at the Grammys is the result of ‘ageism and misogyny.’
Plenty of those weighing in were women, and surely ‘ageism’ would be people advocating she have surgery to make herself look younger, not advising against more of it?
Roaming around Rome a bad idea for Ralph
WHEN Ralph Fiennes was spotted arm in arm with a “mystery woman” on the streets of Rome, no one was more surprised than her husband James Lindsay.
Friends of photographer James, 61, claim that his wife Amelia Richards, 52, had told him just days before that she wanted a trial separation but there was “absolutely no one else involved”.
Oops. She reportedly met Fiennes at a dinner in New York in December, and perhaps thought she could keep it under the radar.
Achievable if it was Colin from accounts maybe.
But Harry Potter star is an A-list actor, so accompanying him on a mini break to the original home of the paparazzi is akin to wearing a hi-vis jacket with the words “look at me” graffitied all over it.
Meg a better choice
THE Duke and Duchess of Sussex have reportedly teamed up with Hollywood broker and entrepreneur Adam Lilling in a bid to boost their earning power.
Lilling has an excellent track record with other “celebrities” (because that’s what H&M are now), but what if he hasn’t taken them on?
In pursuit of maintaining the life to which they have become accustomed and need ongoing funds for, they might search elsewhere for help.
And look how that turned out for Uncle Andrew with his financier chum Jeffrey.
WHITE balloons operated by China are being shot down all over the world.
Thankfully Sam Smith’s outfit was black, or there could have been a horrible mix up.
Joe let down family
RUGBY player Joe Westerman is a loose forward. How apt.
Caught on a widely circulated video with his trousers down in an alleyway while engaging in a sex act with a friend’s partner.
As marital indiscretions go, it couldn’t be much worse.
His wife Lauren, who understandably felt compelled to clarify that the woman in the film wasn’t her – deserves better and might one day find it.
But their kids – the oldest a 14-year-old girl – only have one father.
Shame on him for letting them down so sordidly and publicly.
Highs & J-Los of Ben
A FRIEND’S husband has a T-shirt he is fond of wearing to group gatherings.
It reads: “Sorry I’m late. I didn’t want to come.”
Perhaps Jennifer Lopez might like to purchase one for new husband Ben Affleck?
For it seems that while the 50-year-old movie star might still look young and fit, psychologically he is well on his way to middle-aged curudgeon-liness.
Despite J-Lo’s Instagram posts suggesting the couple are in a state of perpetual bliss, their body language at the Grammys set tongues wagging when his obvious boredom and misery prompted a ticking off from his clearly frustrated other half.
A lip reader has suggested J-Lo told Ben: “Stop. Look more friendly. Look motivated.”
He reportedly shot back: “I might.”
She also seemed to be checking the recovering alcoholic’s glass for booze at the recent premiere of her new film Shotgun Wedding.
“He’s what you call a complicated person. He is always, and I mean always, miserable. And yet, she adores him,” says a friend of Jennifer’s.
Oh dear. Perhaps she thinks she can change him?
Cue every woman married to a committed curmudgeon with FOGO (fear of going out): “Oh no, you won’t.”
A FIRST-edition recipe book including the earliest known recipe for crisps (1817, as you ask) has sold at auction for £420.
My own favourite are Co-Op’s Sea Salt & Chardonnay Wine Vinegar crisps, but they are harder to find than a heterosexual male fan of the Kardashians.
And I’m fully aware that writing this will only make them scarcer.
So, here’s a tip for new Co-Op chief exec Shirine Khoury-Haq, who recently publicised a partnership with Your Local Pantry to help those in need.
Double production of these crisps, put the price up and donate the difference to help those struggling with food bills.
It’s a win-win.
AROUND five million adults still live at home with their parents – a situation dubbed “the hotel of mum and dad”.
Escalating rents and the lack of affordable housing are a large part of the problem.
So too, one imagines, is the Government’s ongoing persecution of private landlords, as if they are all reminiscent of dodgy property businessman Nicholas van Hoogstraten.
The reality is that they are often mild-mannered, hard-working types who believed the mantra of previous governments that saving up for a buy-to-let property (or two) would be a good pension plan. But now?
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Many are finding that being a landlord is more hassle and expense than it’s worth and are flogging them off to any first-time buyers who can afford the sale price and punitive stamp duty fees.
Meaning that all the tenants they housed who don’t have those kind of resources are now back with their parents or couch surfing while on a state housing waiting list as long as the Dead Sea Scrolls.
