NHS has understood the value of old maxim, example is better that precept. Department of health is stressing on the importance of fitness of obese NHS staff in lieu with the public messages of reducing weight propagated by them. More than half the NHS's 1.2 million staff is overweight.

Special programs are to be developed for healthcare staff to shed extra pounds. Overweight and obese midwives, health visitors and nurses will be encouraged to enroll in programmes.

The Department of Health's report says: "The public sector should both lead as an example of government action and due to the large numbers it employs... We need to prioritise how best to improve the health and wellbeing of NHS staff, with an initial focus on nurses, midwives and health visitors."

The report named as Healthy Weight, Healthy Lives: One Year On, revealed that of the 1.2 million staff in the NHS, it is likely that around 300,000 would be classified as obese and a further
400,000 as overweight.

Healthcare department, in the report says: "Over the next year, we will develop bespoke programmes to support achieving and maintaining a healthy weight for key frontline staff who advise and interact with children and families on obesity, such as maternity staff, midwives, health visitors and school nurses."