Food Active to launch new network on overweight, obesity and cancer prevention for Cheshire and Merseyside

30 May 2022 Food Active to launch new network on overweight, obesity and cancer prevention for Cheshire and Merseyside

Health Equalities Group, parent charity for Food Active, has recently been commissioned by the Cheshire and Merseyside Cancer Alliance to deliver a new prevention project focusing on overweight and obesity as modifiable risk factors for some cancers.

One of the primary tasks for the first year of this project will see the formation of a new obesity and cancer prevention network for Cheshire and Merseyside which will launched at an online event on 14^th July this year.

Overweight and obesity rates are the second largest modifiable risk factor for cancer, so the overall aim of this project is to act as a facilitator and system-builder for work to reduce prevalence of overweight and obesity in Cheshire and Merseyside. The network will act as a ‘hub’ of connectivity, bringing together system leaders and stakeholders, including other Whole System Approach programmes, to increase the overall volume and reach of initiatives designed to improve rates of overweight and obesity within the region. The project will also seek to address the long-term, wider determinants of health as they relate to overweight and obesity, and will empower local people to understand the impact of overweight and obesity on preventable cancers.

After a tender process in January, CMCA appointed HEG to deliver this project owing to Food Active’s experience and expertise in delivering complex projects related to healthy weight and obesity. Working closely with staff from CMCA to develop an initial programme of work for 2022-23, HEG will deliver the following workstreams:

• Work with research colleagues from Liverpool John Moores University to cross-analyse data sets on obesity, modifiable cancers and areas of multiple deprivation in C&M
• Conduct qualitative research with system leaders and key stakeholders from traditional health and non-health related backgrounds in C&M
• Launch a new network on overweight, obesity and cancer on 14^th July 2022 with accompanying social media campaigns and quarterly meetings
• Deliver weight loss intervention pilot projects for targeted population groups with a view to scaling up in subsequent years of the project

The project is currently in the process of setting up a steering group and undertaking an initial piece of insight work with national and regional stakeholders from both traditional health and non-health backgrounds, and we will be reporting on findings from this work at a launch event for the new network on Thursday 14^th July.

Speaking about this new piece of work, Matthew Philpott (Executive Director for HEG), said:

“We are excited to be working with CMCA on this ground-breaking project addressing overweight and obesity in Cheshire and Merseyside, and we can’t wait to deliver the network launch event on 14^th July. We know that taking a system-wide approach to lowering levels of overweight and obesity is essential if we are to make any significant progress on this critical agenda, and we will therefore ensure that a wide range of stakeholders are engaged through the network, including the voices of the VCFSE and private sectors, along with patients, and local populations.”        

More information: https://www.cmcanceralliance.nhs.uk/work/prevention-early-diagnosis/cmca-whole-system-strategic-overweight-and-obesity-project

Or contact Matthew Philpott: info@hegroup.org.uk

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