Award-winning digital tool helps people with obesity be more active
A new digital health tool has been shown to help people living with severe obesity increase their daily physical activity and, in a mission, to optimise their 24-hour movement behaviours, according to new research from the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Leicester Biomedical Centre (BRC) and Leicester Diabetes Centre.
The web-based application, called Steps4Health, was introduced into a specialist NHS weight management service to support patients to become more active as part of their care. Within just six weeks, users increased their daily walking by almost 1,000 extra steps per day, the equivalent of around 10 minutes of brisk walking and nearly double what we would typically expect for health improvements.
The evaluation has been recognised nationally, winning the Best Practice Award at the UK Congress on Obesity (UKCO) 2025, where it was also presented as an oral presentation in the conferences opening plenary session.
Steps4Health is designed not only for people living with obesity, but also for anyone living with a long-term health condition, or for those wanting to become more active. Steps4health gives users personalised daily goals for steps, sedentary behaviours, sleep and exercise including resistance exercise. It also provides motivational feedback, challenges, direct access to professional support and easy-to-understand information about the benefits of being active throughout the whole 24-hour day. Steps4Health can be linked with wearable activity trackers or used on its own. Users also have access to educational videos, workouts, and advice on becoming active with long-term health conditions.
During the Steps4Health implementation, more than half of patients referred to this NHS weight management service registered with Steps4Health, and many reported using it regularly to track their progress.
Dr Louisa Herring, Lead Research Associate for Physical Activity, Research and Implementation, the physical activity pathway lead for the weight management service at the Leicester Diabetes Centre, said:
“We know that even small increases in physical activity can make a big difference to health. What’s exciting about Steps4Health is that it helps people with long term health conditions take achievable steps towards being more active, in a way that fits around their daily lives. If adopted nationally, Steps4Health could contribute to a reduction in the risk of cardiovascular disease particularly in those living with obesity.”
Obesity is a long-term condition that affects around one in four adults in the UK. Increasing daily movement, even by a few hundred steps, can lower the risk of serious conditions such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes and some cancers.
Professor Melanie Davies, Co-Director of the Leicester Diabetes Centre, added:
“Winning the UKCO Best Practice Award shows just how important this work is. Digital tools like Steps4Health have real potential to transform physical activity support in NHS services such as weight management, giving patients more support to become more physically active and improve their health and wellbeing.”
Steps4Health was developed by the Leicester Diabetes Centre, building on the success of its award-winning MyDESMOND digital self-management platform. Steps4Health is available for free throughout 2026, sign up here.
The native Steps4Health app will launch in 2026—an achievement shaped by user feedback and inspired by cutting-edge research in physical activity.
Steps4Health app
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