Weight loss jabs could halve the number of sick days people take off work and significantly reduce the strain on the NHS, a study has found.
Research showed that after nine months, patients prescribed the injections benefited from a significant boost to productivity, and their absence due to sickness dropped by 45 per cent, while long-term absences of five days or more reduced by 56 per cent.
Researchers assessed 1,270 NHS patients on Oviva’s tier 3 weight management programme. The patients in the study were severely obese, with an average BMI of 45 at the start of the programme, falling to 39 after nine months.
On average, they were managing at least three serious conditions when they joined the programme, most commonly anxiety, high blood pressure and Type 2 diabetes.
Most of the patients were prescribed semaglutide, which is marketed as Wegovy for weight loss and Ozempic for the treatment of Type 2 diabetes. After nine months, they lost an average of 12.4 per cent of their body weight, while patients’ average BMI fell from 45 to 39.
Patients on the jabs also did not see a GP as often, with face-to-face appointments dropping by 43 per cent, and remote consultations by 48 per cent.
More than 60 per cent said they did not contact their GP at all, while a separate study of 738 patients who were prescribed the jabs found A&E visits among the group fell by one quarter.
Martin Fidock, UK managing director of Oviva, said: “Britain is in the grip of a productivity crisis, and obesity is one of the biggest drivers. Hundreds of thousands of people are stuck on long-term sick leave, unable to work, costing the economy billions every year.
“Our data shows that when people get the right treatment – jabs combined with proper clinical support – they don’t just lose weight. They get back to work, they stop relying on their GP, and they start living again.
“Many of these people are managing three or four serious health conditions, yet they’ve been abandoned by the system and refused access to the treatment they need.
“The government must urgently prioritise rollout to those who need it most. Failure to act means more people written off, more lives diminished, and a bill for the taxpayer that will only keep growing.”
The findings was presented at the European Congress on Obesity in Istanbul, where a separate study presented found that a higher body mass index (BMI) score is linked to more loneliness, stress and financial problems.
Researchers examined data from a Dutch online screening tool which assessed underlying causes for obesity.
They looked at data from 44,000 adults with an average age of 52 who filled in information about themselves between June 2024 and November 2025.
Around one in 20 people involved with the study reported financial difficulties – with those who had the highest BMI scores more likely to report money troubles compared with those of a normal weight, with 7.2 per cent of severely obese adults reporting financial difficulties compared with 4.3 per cent of those with a normal weight.
Researchers noted that obese people were more likely to report being lonely compared with their peers who were normal weight.
They wrote: “These relationships may be bidirectional: higher BMI may contribute to stigma and social isolation, reduced work capacity, and increased healthcare costs.
“On the other hand, financial strain, chronic stress and social isolation may influence lifestyle coping behaviours, and even biological processes that promote weight gain.”