You have to weigh the same as a sumo wrestler for weight loss jabs on the NHS

NHS rationing means people have to weight the same as a sumo wrestler before they are prescribed weight loss drugs, a top expert has said.

Currently only the dangerously obese are prescribed the jabs which suppress appetite, such as Mounjaro and Wegovy. That is because the powerful drugs require personalised support services to ensure sustained, healthy weight loss - which the NHS does not have capacity to provide for everyone who would benefit from them.

Professor John Deanfield, of University College London, is a leading expert in the drugs which mimic the GLP-1 hormone, and revealed that the average body mass index (BMI) of an NHS fat jab patient is 47 - compared with 46 for an elite sumo wrestler.

Speaking at the world’s biggest heart conference in Munich, Prof Deanfield said: “To put that in context, we just had the world sumo wrestling championship in the UK and the winner had a BMI that was less than the average BMI of the patients we treat with GLP-1s.

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