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Inclusive public health messaging for obesity and eating disorders

This project will review the inclusive public health messaging for obesity and eating disorders.

1 July 2022

Background

The prevention and management of obesity requires population聽changes in diet, including overall energy reduction. An important part of current public health messaging about obesity therefore focuses on calorie guidelines/restrictions.

There is growing concern among EDs professionals and advocates that current public health messaging about obesity 鈥� especially the focus on calorie counting 鈥� is inadvertently increasing disordered eating behaviours and cognitions, especially among vulnerable groups. The specific impact of current obesity public health messaging on adults鈥� and children鈥檚 risk for EDs is not known.

Aims

The aims of this research project are to:

  1. Get a better understanding of the impact of current obesity-focused public health messaging on adults鈥� risk for eating disorders (EDs).
  2. Lead to a better understanding of the range of healthy weight and healthy eating messages that children are exposed to, and how these are understood and internalised.

This will enable the development of recommendations to promote obesity-focused public health messaging that does not unintentionally harm or stigmatise individuals at risk of developing disordered eating/eating disorders.

Methodology

We will conduct focus group interviews with adults to:

  1. Gain insights into how public health messaging around obesity may be contributing to obesity-prevention behaviours, disordered eating, and weight stigma
  2. Identify how obesity messaging can be made more 鈥楨Ds friendly鈥� and inclusive, while also supporting obesity prevention and management

We will conduct focus groups with children to understand:

  • The range of messages that children are exposed to, and聽
  • How children understand and interpret messaging about healthy weight and healthy eating.

Timing

  • December 2023
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The NIHR Policy Research Unit in Healthy Weight is part of the NIHR and hosted by UCL.

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The NIHR Policy Research Unit in Obesity is now the NIHR Policy Unit in Healthy Weight and is part of the NIHR and hosted by UCL.