Grant Shapps – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grant Shapps on 2016-10-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much has been spent from the public purse on purchasing (a) wearable fitness tracking technology and (b) diet pills for soldiers deemed to be overweight in the last financial year.

Harriett Baldwin

Wearable fitness tracking technology equipment is purchased by individual military units. Records of the cost of these purchases are not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

In accordance with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines, the Ministry of Defence prescribes the medication Orlistat for the management of obesity. The drug is prescribed to both UK military personnel and their dependants. In financial year 2015-16 the total purchase cost of Orlistat was £6,300.