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As part of InBody’s growth strategy for 2022 and beyond, Ian Rushbury has joined InBody as Head of Product.

Ian has a wealth of industry experience and is well respected. The role is an ideal fit as InBody dramatically expands the product offering, to complement the world leading body composition analysers, to deliver a full range of products to support a variety of new sectors.

Francesca Cooper, UK Co-Director says “The health of the nation is now high on the agenda, following the recovery from the pandemic, and as government takes a fresh view of people taking control of their own health and wellness, it is the correct time to bring a visionary, highly experienced senior member to the team to help support the growth goals for InBody”.

Ian Rushbury says “Having been in the industry for 17 years, I have always wanted to help impact as many people as possible. The potential to positively impact thousands of people in the UK in many different gyms, fitness clubs, health facilities and new sectors, appealed directly to me and my values. I’m excited to bring my operator and development knowledge to the InBody experience for the customers and their communities”

Ian has now commenced his role and is looking forward to taking InBody UK on the next development phase, surrounded by a strong and motivated team.

On Monday 15th November at 10:00 and 13:00, the UK InBody team will be hosting a live webinar to answer questions about InBody and the products.

InBody is pioneering the health conversation when it comes to understanding our bodies, being healthy and aiding recovery and rehabilitation. InBody is now used across the globe in Health and Fitness clubs, education sites, medical centres, and is part of the NHS Supply Chain.

InBody recognises that with a large product portfolio and new products being launched imminently that it is important for new and existing clients to be able to seek answers to their questions, in order to utilise InBody effectively and also identify which InBody or additional supporting products; such as the BPBIO blood pressure monitor or connecting the InBody to Lookin’ Body web.

To register for these live events simply follow the details below:

Session 1 – 15th November 10 am REGISTER HERE

Session 2 – 15th November 1 pm REGISTER HERE

For more details or if you have any further questions please email uk@inbody.com

Cystic Fibrosis is a genetic condition that affects more than 10,600 people in the UK. This week is CF week, with a focus on the ‘We Won’t Stop’ campaign, now in its 7th year, with a simple aim to remove the taboo of this condition and encourage stories of all those fabulous people who have the daily struggle of living with CF. On Friday 18th June there is a Wear Yellow Day to show your support, of which all of us at InBody UK will be doing!  

Some of you may know that this condition is close to our hearts at InBody UK, as Francesca Cooper, our UK Co-Director’s young son, suffers from it.

It has been a life changing experience and with the permission of Fran, we wanted to share her story. 

In October 2020 I received the news that I was dreading that Barrett, my precious son, has Cystic Fibrosis. It was something I had expected based on my knowledge and research, but to get the confirmation was naturally a shock. The worry and fear that went through me was something I struggled to explain. As a parent you do everything you can to protect your children, and this was just a very scary concept! 

My emotions were all over the place; anger, sadness, guilt and most of all feeling a complete lack of control – I have never cried so much and got angry, cried again, got angry over and over in a single day!

The first week and months I was just trying to survive and learn, just to make sure I could do everything possible. I read so much about CF and even now some days I feel like I have been hit by a wall of emotion. But, I have to pick myself up, look forward and be there every step of the way to make decisions and be a rock and support for my young son to give him every opportunity and the best outcome for him to live a full life. 

Being a working mum and having the additional challenges and responsibilities that having a CF child presents, can be physically and emotionally hard. My job means I am sometimes away when he starts to get sick and many a time I work from the side of a hospital bed! Balancing life is tricky… Barrett’s health is restricting to our family and a lot of our lives have to work around his health but we do not let it govern them. I’ve learnt to be honest about it now and people and customers do understand, this I will always be grateful for.

I will try to work as long as I can, but ultimately I know that one day I will have to leave my career to care for my son full time. However, right now I have a platform to educate and share my journey through my job and it’s an important message that I believe in. 

Keeping Barrett healthy and strong is so important. The seasons massively affect how he feels and how well he is. Over the summer he has a chance to build up the muscle mass and weight that he then loses during his poorly winter phase. Exercise is essential for keeping his lungs healthy too, giving them the best chance of fighting infection or even avoiding it. I know a strong body is usually a healthy body and so monitoring weight is not enough. I use InBody to monitor his muscle mass to see the changes to exercise and food and to give him the best chance later on in the disease by keeping his body as strong and healthy as it can be. It’s a tough diagnosis to handle and the future terrifies me as his mother. 

Life always throws us curve balls and this was a huge one to deal with. We are fortunate to have a great team around Barrett and I, and we keep growing and learning together. 

CF is a disease that will not leave our home, it’s like an unwanted guest that we will live with forever. We take each day and are grateful for the good times. We won’t stop!

As the COVID-19 pandemic begins to come under some control in the UK, companies are awakening to a new era. InBody UK is definitely one of those companies, with a strong sales position retained throughout the pandemic, simply due to the public awareness and need of accurate health screening. With InBody keeping on top of relevant and medically graded products having launched their home scale, blood pressure monitors, digital height machine and The Band, there is lots going on and the expansion of the team was inevitable.

Luke Veebel is half English half Estonian (interesting fact check). Luke has had a stellar career in Rugby representing Leicester Lions, Leicestershire county and has also played for Estonia. Luke is a lover of all sports, and to quote Luke, he is currently on a gym tour rather than a rugby one right now, which he is fully embracing and enjoying getting to know new and existing clients. Luke loves to ski, travel and eat!!

Luke joined InBody to make a difference to the UK, through education of health and the importance of a balanced lifestyle. To work for a company at the forefront of this and getting to see all aspects of health, not just gyms and fitness but medical and the UK’s public sector in terms of NHS, police, fire service and the forces.

Welcome to the team Luke!

On the 4th of March 2021, The UK Government announced £100 million of new funding to support people to achieve a healthier weight.

Over the last 12 months it has become apparent that excess weight is a serious matter given the over representation of people living with obesity in ICU worldwide. Public Health England analysis found that living with obesity increases the risk of severe complications of COVID-19 including hospital admission.

The link between excess weight and COVID-19 severity should be no surprise given the well-established relationship with excess weight and a range of chronic diseases, including respiratory health, and the association with reduced life expectancy and quality of life. It has health implications at every stage across the life course, from pregnancy, childhood and adulthood.

For adult weight management services funding is split between the NHS and local authority commissioned services. Funds are also set aside to support services from pregnancy through to those aimed at primary school aged children. Funds for the NHS build on commitments already set out in the NHS Long Term Plan to offer weight management services to people living with obesity and hypertension and/or diabetes. This adds to services already on offer for those at risk of type 2 diabetes through the NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme.

How extra funding for local authorities will be used

Around two thirds of the extra funds for supporting people are ear marked to enhance Tier 2 weight management services (that is, multi-component services: including diet, physical activity and behaviour change components) for adults.

PHE in collaboration with the Local Government Association (LGA) and Association for Directors of Public Health (ADPH) will be supporting the roll out of the Adult Weight Management Services Grant which will distribute £30.5 million among all local authorities in England to commission adult behavioural weight management services in 2021/2022.

The amount each local authority receives will depend on their population size, prevalence of obesity and level of deprivation.  The funds can be used to allocate more places on existing weight management services or to buy new services. PHE will support local authorities in setting up new services by developing, in consultation with local authorities, procurement systems that will help authorities to run timely, effective competitions to secure the weight management services that they need.

For children, the Child and Family Weight Management Services Grant will distribute £4.4 million to pilot the expansion of  behavioural weight management services and the delivery of extended brief interventions for children identified as being above a healthy weight and their families in 5 to 10 local authorities. Local authorities are invited to apply for funding. As with adults, the level of funding will be allocated based on local need.

For both the adult and child and families grants, conditions will include providing data on weight management service provision at the start and end of the programme, and monthly participant level data. Local authorities will be encouraged to provide equitable access to population groups most in need, including men, people living with obesity from deprived areas and people from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic groups, and also to enable inclusive services for people with protected characteristics.

What else will PHE do?

PHE and NHS England and NHS Improvement (NHSE&I) are working in partnership to help align NHS and local authority funded services.

Data from services will be used to help make the case for more sustained funding into the future, to learn lessons on service performance and to understand what works best to support good outcomes for all. Evidence on local practice will be collected and knowledge shared.

PHE will work with local authorities and service providers and will develop guidance to support local implementation including on how to ensure that underserved population groups have access to weight management services and how services can be tailored to meet specific needs. Efforts will be made to ensure the voices of people living with obesity are heard and services take a person-centred approach, using non-stigmatising and person-first language.

In partnership with Health Education England, PHE will also support the embedding of Healthy Weight Coaches into primary care and the community by developing training for a broad range of healthcare professionals. The Coaches will engage with people living with overweight or obesity who are interested in improving their health and wellbeing by supporting and motivating them to prioritise weight management and signpost or refer them into weight management services.

PHE will also build the evidence base and identify tools needed to promote healthy lifestyles in the early years to help prevent overweight or obesity concerns in families with young children.

PHE will continue to build on the successes of the Better Health campaign to date by encouraging and supporting people living with overweight or obesity to make positive changes. Campaign activity throughout the next twelve months will promote evidence-based tools and advice including an enhanced NHS 12 Week Weight Loss Plan app to help people develop healthier eating habits, get more active and lose weight.

Where appropriate, PHE will also work in partnership with NHSE&I, local authorities and commercial weight loss providers to help direct people who need additional support to lose weight, into weight management services.

Wider impact of the pandemic on obesity prevalence

Going into the pandemic most adults and a third of children were living with excess weight.

Societal changes associated with the pandemic may have increased the risk of weight gain and made it harder to access weight management services. Over the past year, we have seen changes in the patterns of food purchases  and physical activity that may be associated with increased calorie intake and excess weight gain. There have also been changes in societal, economic and psychosocial factors that have been linked to excess weight gain. For instance, rates of unemployment and mental illness have increased during the pandemic.

Therefore, there is incremental change to be achieved by upscaling weight management services as part of place based whole systems approaches to addressing obesity and promoting a healthier weight.

Importance of societal wide actions

Obesity is a complex public health challenge driven by a mixture of the social, economic, biological and environmental factors that shape our lives and individual behaviours. Due to the multiple factors that impinge on individuals’ choices within the environment where we live, work and play, it is easy to feel the odds are stacked against us when trying to achieve and maintain a healthier weight.