People who have a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or over fit into one of six behavioural groups, according to a new University of Sheffield study, providing evidence that the one-size-fits-all weight loss programmes currently available to obese people are not effective for everyone.

Following the news of another study that found few commercial weight loss programmes provide concrete evidence of their effectivity, the new investigation, led by Dr Mark Green of the University of Sheffield’s Health and Related Research department, identified six groups of obese people who are likely to respond differently to various weight loss promotion strategies.

The six groups of obese people were identified using data from the Yorkshire Health Study – which included 4,144 obese individuals. The groups were identified as: young males who are heavy drinkers; middle aged individuals who are unhappy and anxious; older people who, despite living with physical health conditions, are happy; young healthy females; older affluent otherwise healthy adults; and individuals with very poor health.

The researchers suggest tailoring health interventions and strategies according to the needs of each of these groups separately – a strategy which could be applied across spas and wellbeing facilities.

“Policies designed to tackle obesity and encourage healthier lifestyles often target individuals just because they are obese,” said Green in the Journal of Public Health. “But a focus on just the group as a whole is not very efficient. We are all different and different health promotion approaches work for different people.”

The researchers said messages about alcohol reduction could help tackle obesity in young adults, while unhappy middle aged individuals could be targeted by promoting exercise in addition to psycho-social counselling.