Severe Mental Illness and Excess Weight

People with severe mental illness (SMI) are three times more likely to develop obesity and associated physical health problems (diabetes, heart disease, metabolic syndrome) than those without. Among young people, this disparity is particularly acute and particularly preventable: the physical health consequences of SMI are not inevitable, but the service structures and individual barriers that could prevent them are rarely in place. This research programme, planned over approximately four years, aims to understand the scale of the problem, the factors that drive it, and how clinical practice and policy could be changed to address it.

The Research

The programme has four components. An epidemiological study will establish the prevalence of co-occurring SMI and excess weight in young people, examining how rates vary by age, gender, ethnicity, and diagnosis. Creative and arts-based qualitative methods will then explore young people's lived experiences of navigating both conditions. A theatre and drama strand will use performance as a method for understanding what better support would look like in practice. And an expert consensus process, drawing on professionals from across clinical settings, social care, education, and policy, will develop the guidance and protocols needed to make coordinated, effective support the norm rather than the exception.

All four workstreams will be guided throughout by a small advisory group of people with first-hand experience of living with, or supporting someone with, mental illness and excess weight.

My Involvement

I attended a workshop at the pre-funding stage, contributing to the process of shaping and refining the research proposal. The session brought together young people with relevant lived experience to review the proposed design, identify gaps, and ensure that the research was asking the right questions in the right way before the funding application was submitted. The programme is led by Dr Susanna Mills and Professor Sheena Ramsay (Newcastle University / NIHR School for Public Health Research, Fuse), with Professor Ashley Adamson and Professor Carolyn Chew-Graham (Keele University / NIHR School for Primary Care Research) as co-investigators. Further information is available on the NIHR SPHR programme page.