Maintaining a healthy weight and preventing excess weight gain among adults and children (2015)

This guideline makes recommendations on behaviours that may help people maintain a healthy weight or prevent excess weight gain. The recommendations support those made in other NICE guidelines about effective interventions and activities to prevent people becoming overweight or obese. This includes interventions and activities in which weight is not the primary outcome, such as those aimed at preventing cardiovascular disease or type 2 diabetes, improving mental wellbeing or increasing active travel.

These are the recommendations: 

• 1 Encourage people to make changes in line with existing advice
• 2 Encourage physical activity habits to avoid low energy expenditure
• 3 Encourage dietary habits that reduce the risk of excess energy intake
• 4 Further advice for parents and carers of children and young people
• 5 Encourage adults to limit the amount of alcohol they drink
• 6 Encourage self-monitoring
• 7 Clearly communicate the benefits of maintaining a healthy weight
• 8 Clearly communicate the benefits of gradual improvements to physical activity and dietary habits
• 9 Tailor messages for specific groups
• 10 Ensure activities are integrated with the local strategic approach to obesity