Secondnature

Second Nature (secondnature.io) operates a digital weight-loss and metabolic health programme delivered through a mobile app and an equivalent web app. The programme combines medical treatment with nutrition and behaviour-change content, and pairs each member with a one-to-one health coach who is a registered nutritionist or dietitian. Members are grouped with others starting on the same date to provide peer support, and the app provides daily articles that can be read or listened to, habit tracking, weight and step tracking, sleep graphs, a meal planner, recipes, a journal and a food diary. Weight and step data can be entered manually or synced from connected scales, Apple Health or Health Connect.

The company positions the programme around long-term, sustainable lifestyle change rather than short-term dieting, covering food, movement, sleep and mindset. Medication-supported treatment is offered subject to eligibility; the company's site references the SURMOUNT-1 trial (Jastreboff et al., NEJM, 2022) reporting average weight loss of up to 22.5% of body weight over 12 months for its most effective treatment, with 20.9% average across all trial starters. An earlier company description records an origin focused on supporting people with type 2 diabetes to manage their condition through more active living, using a wristband that tracked steps, sleep, heart rate and weight.

Business model

Consumer and payer-funded digital health programme: members access the app-based programme directly, while others are referred and funded by the NHS or reach the service through an insurance partner. Programme packages can include connected scales.

Traction

The company states it has supported over 300,000 NHS referrals and is used by Vitality Insurance for its clients.

Latest developments

The current offering centres on medicated weight-loss support combined with the habit-change programme, with NHS access available through GP referral under Right to Choose subject to eligibility criteria.