Danish-UK research collaboration aims to develop effective obesity management programmes

20 January 2023

Senior Research Fellow Professor Susan Jebb OBE is part of group of leading researchers from Denmark and the United Kingdom that has been awarded a €24.2 million grant to develop and test new obesity management programmes.

The prevalence of obesity has increased worldwide in the past fifty years. Due to the physical and mental health complications associated with obesity, many countries are looking to implement effective strategies to prevent and manage obesity. Current options are limited, and more knowledge and evidence is needed to enable people to access the solutions most appropriate for them. The goal of the new Lighthouse Consortium on Obesity Management (LightCOM) research project is to improve health and quality of life through solutions that can contribute to lasting changes, including long-term weight loss.

LightCOM, which is being funded for five years by the Novo Nordisk Foundation, will develop, implement and evaluate new obesity management programmes that will be offered in both primary and secondary care. The programmes, which will be tested in both Denmark and the UK, aim to improve health and quality of life through solutions that can contribute to lasting changes, including long-term weight loss. The UK research programme will be led by the University of Oxford.

Susan, who is Professor of Diet and Population Health at the Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, says, “The LightCOM studies will test whether we can implement systems to offer more effective weight management programmes for people with severe and complex obesity. Along with the clinical studies, the project gives us an opportunity to test whether these treatments are a cost-effective alternative to existing National Health Service (NHS) programmes in primary care”.

More information about the LightCOM project can be found on the Novo Nordisk Foundation’s website here.