From prediabetes risk to better health - Jamil's story

Meet Jamil

56-year-old Jamil Khan is a lifelong Bradford resident. He has a relaxed, affable demeanour and speaks with energy about family life, his 25-years-long career in the NHS and his appreciation for his garden shed.

But energy is a more recent sensation for Jamil. Just a year ago, his life was marked by something different: fatigue. In a story familiar to many, Covid-19 had reduced Jamil’s job to sedentary, home-based desk work and while this had altered Jamil’s lifestyle – he was moving less and barely exercising – his diet stayed the same. Five years post-pandemic, Jamil’s weight had increased to 125kg and his energy levels were depleted.

Jamil started to have significant sleep issues and started to struggle to keep up with his busy life. He was unable to concentrate and started to develop migraines for the first time.

It was this insomnia that eventually brought Jamil to his local GP. A self-proclaimed evader of medicine, his fractured sleep began to affect his life so significantly that he sought medical advice in early 2025.

A standard blood test revealed that Jamil was at high risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, a disease whose profound impact he was sadly familiar with. He said:

I’ve known quite a few people who have had diabetes, and they’ve lost limbs and then their lives. That affected me. I’ve known family members when they were in their 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s – and then witnessed them deteriorate quickly in their 60s because of diabetes.

Our support

Jamil took action quickly by joining our delivery of the NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme, 'Healthier You', after being referred by his GP:

If you’ve ever had diabetes in your family, you know how bad it is. I didn’t want to get to that point; I didn’t want to suffer. I wanted to do what I could to recover and to avoid it.

So I joined Healthier You. It sounded perfect to me, I’d never really taken medication, I didn’t want pills, I wanted to make my own changes. I went in with positivity. I said, ‘I’ve got a chance here to improve and change, and I will, because I need to.

Over the course of 10 years, Reed Wellbeing has supported more than 179,000 people to reduce their risk of developing Type 2 diabetes. The nine-month programme of monthly, face-to-face sessions helps people to understand health risks and take control of their health through simple tweaks to their nutrition and lifestyle.

Jamil attended the Healthier You programme at his local community centre and took a practical approach to making changes. He carefully considered the advice shared during each session and focused on implementing at least one new habit at a time. By making small adjustments consistently, he began to see positive results.

Rather than making drastic changes, Jamil found that the programme encouraged manageable, sustainable improvements to his lifestyle. It challenged the common misconception that significant weight loss requires extreme measures. Instead, he came to see Healthier You as a lifestyle change service focused on improving long-term health and wellbeing, rather than appearance.

With support from his Healthier You coach, Jamil reviewed his daily habits and identified areas where he could make healthier choices. This helped him recognise unnecessary behaviours that could contribute to health issues and make more conscious decisions about what he ate.

He began by cutting out foods he felt he did not need, a change that had a dramatic impact on his wellbeing. He also introduced more physical activity into his routine, starting with just 30 minutes of movement each week, and made simple adjustments at home, such as changing the types of oils used in cooking.

Moving forward

These small, achievable changes helped Jamil build healthier habits and improve his overall health; his HBA1C - a test that measures glucose levels in the blood - dropped significantly.

Things are different for Jamil now. He’s out of the diabetes risk zone. He has lost weight, improved his mental health and takes more time to do things for himself, including a garden renovation project.

But the most welcome change for Jamil, aside from being out of the prediabetic zone?

Sleep! My sleep has dramatically improved. I now have a good night’s sleep most nights, so I’m full of energy all day and I’m not even tired after work. My weekends are now full of activity, and I can do stuff.

It’s absolutely brilliant.