Half of obese Glaswegians who enrolled on NHS schemes shift the pounds

A total of 1824 people accessed slimming programmes run by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde over 2015-16.

Of those, 913 lost weight, at an average cost of £1,533 to the public purse per person.

The health board spent £1,400,000 on schemes aimed at reducing obesity.

NHS Lanarkshire fared better with 240 people losing weight out of 343 who accessed help, at a cost of £743 per person.

The latest figures show that 62% of adults in the Glasgow area are classed as overweight or obese, while 21% of Primary 1 children are at risk of of becoming overweight or obese.

NHSGGC spent £3,869,075 on interventions aimed at tackling smoking, physical activity, obesity and alcohol reduction - the most of any health board in Scotland.

The figures were released by the Taxpayers Alliance following a freedom of information request to every health board and trust in the UK.

They show that NHSGGC spent £1,900,000 on stop-smoking initiatives over 2015-2016, which resulted in 3,131 people giving up at a cost of £607 per person.

In Lanarkshire, 2,496 people stopped smoking at an average cost of £1,108 per person.

Across the UK, board and trusts spent £235, 160, 984 on the four main public health challenges.

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde measured the cost-effectiveness of all programmes aimed at targeting the four, main public health challenges. Around 22% of boards and trusts across the UK did not, including NHS Lanarkshire.

Liverpool City Council spent the most on obesity programmes, spending an average of £7,222 per person who lost weight.

In 2014, NHSGGC awarded a two-year contract to Weight Watchers to provide weight management services as part of a two-year pilot, in addition to existing services.

GPs in England have been able to refer obese patients to Weight Watchers since 2008.

A study found that one third of almost 30,000 people who were referred to the private firm lost five per cent or more of their bodyweight.