More obese and inactive people should be prescribed exercise classes at local recreation centers, according to the councils.
A new analysis from the District Councils Network (DCN), which commissioned experts at the University of East Anglia, indicates that nearly a third of people currently do less than 30 minutes of physical activity per week.
The report found that if GPs prescribe local recreational services to 1 million inactive people over the next decade, it could avert thousands of cases of illness, save more than £300m on the NHS and extend people’s lives by about 3.7 years.
DCN is calling on the government to invest in local sports and leisure services, which it says already have close community ties and can work with groups like charities to focus on hard-to-reach groups.
It comes as some council-run gyms, pools and gyms continue to face significant financial challenges to staying open in the wake of the pandemic.
According to DCN, councils are the largest provider of leisure and fitness services in the country, owning 2,727 leisure centres, 33% of all swimming pools and 31% of grass pitches in England.
“As we emerge from the pandemic, it is imperative that we embrace this as an opportunity to make the nation fit and healthy, and continue to protect and support the NHS by preventing disease and disease where we can,” said Inge Dale, a spokeswoman for DCN Health Communities.
Our new report conclusively shows that local recreation centers can play a vital role in keeping people fit, and prescribing these services can increase life expectancy by up to four years.
Most of the broader determinants of public health are not dictated by the NHS or local health authorities, but by the everyday factors that district-wide services help shape.
Angie Dale, District Council Network
By making long-term investments and integrating the premium leisure and wellness services offered by our councils into health systems, we can increase life expectancy and address rising health inequalities. This is compromise in action.
“Most of the broader determinants of public health are dictated not by the NHS or local health authorities, but by the everyday factors that district-wide services help shape.”
It comes after a study earlier this month found that only a minority of obese people were referred by GPs to clubs like Slimming World between 2007 and 2020.
Only 3% of adults who were overweight or obese in primary care in England were referred to weight management programs by their GP.
In 2014, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) issued updated guidelines stating that people with a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or more could benefit from GP referral for weight loss programs.
She added that “where there is capacity,” access should not be restricted for those who are overweight (with a BMI of 25 or more, or less than blacks and minority ethnicities).
NHS England said the new NHS weight management program introduced last June has seen more than 100,000 people referred by doctors since July 2021.
