Policy options for responding to the growing challenge from obesity in the United Kingdom

Abstract

The aim of this study was to map and analyse how key stakeholders evaluated options for dealing with the rising incidence of obesity in the UK, as part of a wider cross-national study in nine European countries. Multi-criteria mapping was used to capture the ways in which different policy options were evaluated by a variety of key stakeholders. 'Positive societal benefits' was among the criteria most often selected by participants to assess the options and was generally considered more important than costs. Of the seven pre-defined options that all participants appraised, those related to increasing opportunities for physical activity received the highest rankings, and fiscal measures the lowest. Educational measures fared best among the remaining 13 discretionary options while technological measures performed poorly. No one option, or group of options, was considered sufficient to address the obesity problem. Rather, a general consensus was evident in support of mutually reinforcing measures related to education, information, healthier food and physical activity. Although obesity policies are currently emerging in these different areas in the UK, there is a need for them to be better coordinated, and for improved surveillance to estimate their effectiveness in reversing the trend in obesity.

Multi-sector policy action to create activity-friendly environments for children: A multiple-case study

“…Respondents also indicated that they were dependent on other policy sectors for achieving their own goals. As in our study, respondents in other research also shared the opinion that a single policy measure will not be sufficient to tackle complex health problems such as obesity and that an integral (and multi-sector) approach is warranted [29]. In conclusion, these findings indicate that there is room for expansion of multi-sector collaboration, and that this could have a potential stimulating effect on integrated health policy action.…”

Should support for obesity interventions or perceptions of their perceived effectiveness shape policy?

“…Respondents used a five‐point scale (strongly oppose to strongly support) to evaluate 15 possible interventions designed to reduce overweight and obesity among the population. We identified these interventions by reviewing recent literature, examining policy documents and consulting with public health experts 9,20–23 . Each measure tested had been suggested by politicians, policy analysts or other researchers and was chosen after reviewing submissions on obesity to a recent government enquiry, in which several authors were involved 3,4 .…”

Assessment of evaluations made to healthy eating policies in Europe: a review within the EATWELL Project

“…Third, regulating school/canteen meals is more likely to help students not to skip breakfasts and improve their healthy eating choices through improvement in terms of availability, but in the case of school meals regulations, they need to be comprehensive and also involve the parents (15,55,56) . Because combinations of policies, such as with NKP (26) and FLVS (31) , have been better evaluated, either because of their long-standing life or their design, the evidence suggests that any policy aimed at healthy eating may be successful if there is a component of multi-stakeholder involvement and if the approach includes the synergy of different types of policy instruments (57) . Furthermore, the present study emphasises the need for harmonised and verifiable indicators for measuring success and comparing between countries, and advocates for better informed (evidence based) policy choices.…”