The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) has warned that rolling out weight-loss medication alone will not be enough to tackle obesity, as 80% of physicians report a rise in cases in the past 5 years.
In its new position statement, the RCP said ‘medication alone will not be enough to make meaningful progress on tackling obesity’, and calls for further policies including reducing the ‘aggressive marketing and advertising’ of unhealthy food, increasing the availability and affordability of healthy foods and funding to ensure equitable access to NHS weight management services across the country.
The statement follows government’s promise in the 10 Year Plan for Health to “launch a moonshot to end the obesity epidemic”. The RCP is urging government to set out detail and timelines for delivering these obesity commitments as it publishes new survey data from doctors revealing the mounting scale and impact of obesity on the NHS, patients and the care they receive.
A June snapshot survey of RCP members revealed:
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There has been a significant rise in how often physicians see obesity in their work: 80% of physicians said that over the past 5 years the number of patients that they see with obesity has increased. Just 2% said it had decreased, and 15% said it had remained the same (475 respondents).
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Treatment for other illnesses is less effective as a result of obesity: When asked about the impact of obesity on their patients, 48% said that treatment was not as effective as a result, 47% that recovery was impeded, 42% that there were complications during treatment and 33% that patients were unable to access certain treatments due to living with obesity (483 respondents).
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The majority of physicians see the effects of obesity in their patients: 59% said at least half of their average caseload was made up of patients whose conditions have been caused or exacerbated by obesity (476 respondents).
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Of that 59%, 26.5% said it was more than half, 26.5% said about half and 6% almost all.
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34% said it was less than half, 6% said very few and 0.2% said none.
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Dr Kath McCullough, RCP’s special adviser on obesity, said:
“The narrative that obesity is about personal responsibility or that new medications will solve the problem is misleading. Obesity is a chronic illness shaped by a range of factors and influences – and it’s on the rise.
“We are seeing daily how obesity causes and makes it harder to treat conditions, from diabetes and arthritis to heart disease and cancer. The NHS 10 Year Plan rightly sets out a suite of measures that can be used in the fight against obesity, but the armoury is far from complete. Weight loss drugs can be part of the solution for some patients, but our efforts must focus on preventing people developing obesity and overweight in the first place. We welcome the measures government announced last week – they have great potential. We look forward to seeing the detail on how we will translate that ambition into reality.”
The RCP recognises obesity as a chronic, systemic illness characterised by excess adiposity which, when associated with alterations in the function of tissues or organs, results in a disease state or ‘clinical obesity’.
In its new position statement, the RCP calls for:
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Government to deliver funding to ensure equitable access to weight management services and therapeutic interventions across the country
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Treatment to be provided on a health-needs basis, and that sufficient wraparound support is provided to ensure that once patients have reached a healthy weight, they can sustain it without further treatment. Wraparound care should be delivered in a range of community and clinical settings, including – but in no way limited to – digital platforms alone
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All assessment and treatment must be delivered without stigma or bias, in recognition that people living with obesity have complex needs that require a holistic and compassionate approach
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Clinical interventions, such as weight loss drugs, must be complemented with broad, bold action from government to tackle the social and environmental drivers of obesity
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Policies to reduce aggressive marketing and advertising of foods high in fat, salt, and sugar, whilst increasing the availability and affordability of healthy foods from an early age.
Dr Mumtaz Patel, president of the Royal College of Physicians, said:
“Doctors are telling us loud and clear about the scale and impacts of obesity. It is undermining treatment, driving up complications and placing additional pressure on an already overwhelmed NHS. In less affluent communities, we’re watching obesity fuel a vicious cycle. People are getting sicker, their care becomes harder to deliver and the system just can’t catch up.
“We welcome steps the government is taking. No few individual measures will be enough. It is a complex problem that requires multifaceted solutions. We need bold, joined-up preventative action that tackles the genetic, social, economic and commercial factors that drive obesity.”
RCP 2025 June snapshot survey
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Between 2-14 June 2025, the RCP carried out its second member snapshot survey of 2025. It included questions to gather insights into physicians’ experiences of seeing modifiable risk factors like smoking, alcohol use and obesity among their patients. The full write up of this survey is available on the RCP website here.
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The RCP’s snapshot survey showed that 94% of the 516 physicians who responded said they saw patients with medical conditions caused or exacerbated by smoking, obesity or alcohol dependence.
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Respondents were physicians from a range of specialties, including acute internal medicine, respiratory, cardiology, geriatric medicine, palliative medicine, gastroenterology and neurology. The largest specialties were represented more than the smallest. The majority of respondents were substantive NHS consultants.
- On 9th July 2025 an addition was made to the Notes to Editors to clarify that the survey was sent to 18,808 clinically active UK members and fellows via email. 516 physicians responded to the questions on modifiable risk factors specifically. The total number of responses to each question is given in brackets.
Government 10 Year Health Plan obesity commitments
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The government’s 10 Year Health Plan sets out a range of commitments on obesity on pp62 - 66.
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The RCP response to the Plan is here.
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The RCP response to specific measures announced on healthy food standards is here.