THE UK CITY of Stoke-on-Trent is sending ‘motivational’ text messages to obese citizens to encourage them to use weight.

According to the BBC, messages sent by the city council include: “Use the stairs more”, “Eat fruit and veg” and “Keep a check on snacks and drinks”.

About 70,000 adults living there are classed as obese, and the government is currently spending £50m on dealing with weight-related illnesses in the city.

The Daily Mail reports that the service costs £10,000 to run, but politicians say it costs the same amount to carry out just one “intervention operation” to help a person manage their weight.

Cabinet member Adrian Knapper told the Independent UK:

Our programme means people who already want to lose weight…will receive a cheap and effective nudge to keep them motivated.

The texts will be sent out for ten weeks, and are available to the first 500 people who sign up with the council to receive them.

We think we know how we would respond to such a service being rolled out here:

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