25 Jul 2019 Public Health England publish Whole Systems Approach to Obesity guidance
We are pleased to see the publication of the new guidance document from Public Health England, the Local Government Association, the Association for the Directors of Public Health and Leeds Beckett University, to support the adoption of a whole systems approach to tackling obesity locally.
Public Health England’s Whole systems approach to obesity: A guide to support local approaches to promoting a healthy weight has been developed over the past 4 years in collaboration with a number of local authorities pilot sites, academics at Leeds Beckett University and with support from the Association of Directors of Public Health and the Local Government Association.
The resource includes 6-phase process that can be used flexibly by local authorities, taking into account existing structures, relationships and actions that are already in place, enabling local authorities and their partners to start creating their own local whole systems approach to addressing obesity and promoting a healthy weight through supporting resources and a learning report to help local authorities and their partners with the process of creating a whole systems approach. The resources also include a short animation, which describes the relevance and importance of taking a whole systems approach to tackling obesity.
The identification of locally appropriate actions to include in the approach is supported by PHE’s Promoting health weight in children, young people and families: a resource to support local authorities – of which includes two examples of Food Active’s work, both the Local Government Declaration on Healthy Weight and the Give Up Loving Pop campaign.
Food Active are delighted to be able to support the whole systems approach through the Local Government Declaration on Healthy Weight, which has now been adopted by 18 local authorities across the North of England and the South West and continues to grow in momentum and recognition as a useful tool to consider healthy weight in all policies and across all departments in the council.
