Scottish health chief is walking his way to a slimmer future

NHS boss has lost over 6 stone.

NHS Scotland chief executive Paul Gray is battling the bulge by walking more than 10,000 steps a day the equivalent of about four miles.

He measures his progress with a pedometer which counts the number of steps he takes and has revealed he’s used it so much the batteries ran flat. The 52-year-old has also cut fatty food out of his diet.

As leader of the NHS in Scotland where more than two million people are overweight or obese Paul told The Sunday Post he realised he needed to set a good example. Since taking up his high-profile job in December 2013, he’s tried to make changes to his daily life.

Instead of taking lifts, he will walk up stairs to burn extra calories and often pops out of his base at St Andrew’s House in Edinburgh for a lunchtime walk to get a bit of extra exercise.

The end result is that he’s lost more than six stone.

Paul, who has been overweight for the last 20 years, acknowledges his weight loss hasn’t gone as fast as he’d like, but said the important point, for him and others trying to lose weight, is to keep going in the right direction.

He said: “When I took this job I was clear that I had already begun a trajectory of losing weight and I was clear I should continue on that. I concluded it was important to take more care of my health.

“This is a journey and I know I need to keep on it. I lost more than four stone up to November and I’ve continued that downward trajectory, although it would be fair to say it has been slow progress.”

The dad-of-three declined to say what his current weight is and said he hasn’t set a final target or a deadline. But he is clear about his commitment to walking a cheap and easy exercise he said many people can benefit from.

“I’ve been trying to do 10,000 steps a day,” he said, before adding: “I was going to show you my pedometer but I’ve used it that much the battery has gone flat.”

Last week, we revealed hundreds of people in Britain were claiming benefits because they were too fat to work. And while that situation comes at a price, the cost of obesity to the nation’s health service is far greater.

Paul’s own annual report last year pointed out physical inactivity resulted in around 2,500 premature deaths in Scotland each year and costs NHS Scotland around £94.1 million a year.

A staggering 63% of adults between 16 and 64 (2,181,693) are classed as overweight or obese in Scotland, with 29% of children aged two to 15 also classed as overweight.

However, Paul said the country had made “significant progress” tackling coronary heart disease and strokes. He said the important thing for people looking to lose weight was that they moderate what they eat and eat “sensibly and healthily”. And while he acknowledged health staff should set an example, he said he was sympathetic to people trying to lose weight.

He also said he would not want to make overweight members of NHS staff feel they were less valued because of their health and fitness. And while weight is a personal thing for everyone, Paul said it was important that people discussed it.

He added: “If people feel they need help then they should be encouraged. It’s important people can talk about it.”

Fitness expert Yvonne Wake of the University of Roehampton last night praised the exec for taking the initiative. She said simple changes to peoples’ everyday lifestyles can have a huge effect.

She said: “What he’s doing is a really good approach to take. If he walks for an hour every day he’ll really start to notice a difference. It sounds like he’s doing it the right way.”