Evidence for Local Authority Policies to Prevent Childhood Obesity
Lead Research Organisation:
University College London
Abstract
The fellowship will support and enable the fellow to develop and undertake a programme of high-quality research to inform UK policy to prevent childhood obesity during and after the fellowship. It will enable his development and that of his team.
Childhood obesity is a significant and challenging public health issue, with one in five children aged 10-11 in England affected. This prevalence is higher than in many Western countries and continues to rise, disproportionately impacting children living in poorer areas. Obesity negatively effects health and social outcomes in childhood and into adult life. Obesity costs the UK society around 3% of GDP. Childhood, particularly the first 1000 days and adolescence, offer important windows for intervention and the adoption of lifelong healthy behaviours.
Building on work in the first phase of the fellowship, the research in the next phase will strengthen the evidence base for effective local action, particularly regulatory, fiscal and legal approaches. Local authorities possess unique levers to influence the environments that shape children's eating and physical activity. However, the evidence base supporting local interventions, particularly ‘hard’ policy levers like financial, regulatory, and legal measures, is underdeveloped.
The research aims are threefold:
1. To identify novel opportunities for local authority interventions. This will explore financial, regulatory, and legal approaches to promoting healthy eating and activity; and understand barriers to implementation.
2. To develop a new UK child obesity-health model to quantify the short-term (within 3-5 years) health impacts of childhood obesity interventions.
3. To use this model to simulate the impact of both existing and novel local policies, assessing their potential to improve children’s health and reduce health inequalities.
The project will employ a mixed-methods approach. Project 1 will use in-depth semi-structured interviews with senior officers in local authorities. Project 2 will develop a computer-based model to estimate the impact on children’s health of public health policies. Project 3 will use the model to estimate the impact of policies identified in Project 1.
The fellowship will also support the continued development of the fellow and his leadership skills and the development of one post-doctoral research fellow through a programme of structured training and development activities and through the programme of research. By providing protected time and training opportunities, it will allow consolidation and further development of the skills developed in the first phase of the fellowship.
This research will provide better evidence to inform policy making in the UK and abroad, to help improve the health of children and the adults they will become. By publishing in leading open-access journals, presenting at conferences, engaging with media outlets and working with policy and practice professionals, the project will disseminate findings to academics, policymakers, and the public. The fellow’s role as a practicing public health consultant and co-director of the NIHR Policy Research Unit for Healthy Weight ensures strong connections with local and national public health bodies, facilitating effective knowledge translation.
Childhood obesity is a significant and challenging public health issue, with one in five children aged 10-11 in England affected. This prevalence is higher than in many Western countries and continues to rise, disproportionately impacting children living in poorer areas. Obesity negatively effects health and social outcomes in childhood and into adult life. Obesity costs the UK society around 3% of GDP. Childhood, particularly the first 1000 days and adolescence, offer important windows for intervention and the adoption of lifelong healthy behaviours.
Building on work in the first phase of the fellowship, the research in the next phase will strengthen the evidence base for effective local action, particularly regulatory, fiscal and legal approaches. Local authorities possess unique levers to influence the environments that shape children's eating and physical activity. However, the evidence base supporting local interventions, particularly ‘hard’ policy levers like financial, regulatory, and legal measures, is underdeveloped.
The research aims are threefold:
1. To identify novel opportunities for local authority interventions. This will explore financial, regulatory, and legal approaches to promoting healthy eating and activity; and understand barriers to implementation.
2. To develop a new UK child obesity-health model to quantify the short-term (within 3-5 years) health impacts of childhood obesity interventions.
3. To use this model to simulate the impact of both existing and novel local policies, assessing their potential to improve children’s health and reduce health inequalities.
The project will employ a mixed-methods approach. Project 1 will use in-depth semi-structured interviews with senior officers in local authorities. Project 2 will develop a computer-based model to estimate the impact on children’s health of public health policies. Project 3 will use the model to estimate the impact of policies identified in Project 1.
The fellowship will also support the continued development of the fellow and his leadership skills and the development of one post-doctoral research fellow through a programme of structured training and development activities and through the programme of research. By providing protected time and training opportunities, it will allow consolidation and further development of the skills developed in the first phase of the fellowship.
This research will provide better evidence to inform policy making in the UK and abroad, to help improve the health of children and the adults they will become. By publishing in leading open-access journals, presenting at conferences, engaging with media outlets and working with policy and practice professionals, the project will disseminate findings to academics, policymakers, and the public. The fellow’s role as a practicing public health consultant and co-director of the NIHR Policy Research Unit for Healthy Weight ensures strong connections with local and national public health bodies, facilitating effective knowledge translation.