Healthier weight must be viewed differently in Derry and Strabane, conference hears

Today (Tuesday 9 September) Developing Healthy Communities and Ulster University hosted delegates at Healthier Systems, Healthier Weight the annual Derry and Strabane Healthy City and District conference, hosted by Ulster University and Developing Healthy Communities and supported by the Public Health Agency, Derry City and Strabane District Council and the Department for the Economy, where attendees heard how a whole systems approach to healthier weight could change how healthier weight is viewed.

Speakers including Prof Mark Taylor (DoH) Prof Chris Lloyd (QUB) and Karen Mullan (Foyle Network Foundation) spoke about the ways in which obesity, health and inequalities are being viewed differently, and how services could change to reflect the latest evidence, while speakers including Seamus Ward (WHSCT), Prof Alex Miras (UU) and Allan Bogle (DCSDC) described local projects which will contribute to local food and health systems that support people to maintain a healthier weight.

We asked participants what they think the top priorities are for creating the conditions for healthier weight, here's what they said:

1. Early life is key. Delegates identified schools as a crucial setting. One said "a school day [should be] a healthy day."
2. Talk to people with lived experience. Delegates emphasised that no-one know the systems and factors affecting people with overweight or obesity better than they do themselves.
3. Access to healthy food isn't a given. One of the big systemic issues impacting weight is access to healthy affordable options in every neighbourhood, delegates told us.

Developing Healthy Communities Chief Executive Edel O’Doherty says:  

“In the past, weight has been viewed as an individual issue, but it is influenced by a complex web of social, environmental, and economic factors and requires a coordinated, system-wide approach. Anyone can achieve a healthier weight when local systems are working with them, not against them.”

The whole systems approach public health model was developed by Leeds Beckett University and NHS England and is currently being rolled out across Northern Ireland. It looks at how existing systems contribute to obesity within individual local authority areas.

Obesity affects up to 26% of the population within the Derry and Strabane District Council area. Living with obesity can increase the risk of many health conditions including type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease and some types of cancer.

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