'Obesity places an intolerable strain, not just on our health but on our benefits system and our economy more widely'

included £327 in paid work - the equivalent of avoiding five sickness days. Estimates suggest around four million people in England could benefit from weight loss injections.

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But only 500,000 are thought to be accessing them, either through the NHS or privately.

The research, which will be presented at the European Congress on Obesity in Malaga, Spain, this weekend sparked fresh calls for the rollout of the GLP-1 class of drugs to be accelerated.

Dr Charlotte Refsum, director of health policy at the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, said: "Obesity places an intolerable strain, not just on our health, but our health system, our benefits system and our economy more widely.