A blueprint to halve obesity in the UK with over 30 policies to help reduce the prevalence of obesity ranked by the UK’s top academics

Here are over 30 policies to help reduce the prevalence of obesity ranked by the UK’s top academics in our Here are over 30 policies to help reduce the prevalence of obesity ranked by the UK’s top academics in our

Find out more

Our research methods

Impact on obesity

Cost to governments

Evidence quality

Showing 33 of 33 interventions

	Themes
Introduce healthiness targets for large retailers Regulate large retailers to change their organisation-wide converted NPM score to ≥ 69 across their entire food product portfolio	Prevention Industry Retail Energy Reformulation Devolved	Very high	Low	Very low
Ban discretionary HFSS promotions in out of home businesses Ban all price promotions of discretionary foods for medium and large out of home businesses (e.g. restaurants, coffee shops, fast food outlets).	Prevention Promotions Out of home Devolved Children	Very high	Mod.	Very low
Ban on all HFSS promotions in food retail businesses (volume and price) Ban all price promotions of discretionary foods in the retail sector excluding small and micro businesses	Prevention Promotions Children Devolved Retail	Very high Adults: 0.00% estimated impact on population-level obesity Children: 0.00% estimated impact on population-level obesity Adults: 0.00% estimated impact on population-level obesity Children: 0.00% estimated impact on population-level obesity	Mod. Adults: 0.10% estimated impact on population-level obesity Children: 2.00% estimated impact on population-level obesity Adults: 0.10% estimated impact on population-level obesity Children: 2.00% estimated impact on population-level obesity	Very low Adults: 3.00% estimated impact on population-level obesity Children: 4.00% estimated impact on population-level obesity Adults: 3.00% estimated impact on population-level obesity Children: 4.00% estimated impact on population-level obesity
Restrict in-store HFSS positioning Restrict in-store checkout, end-of-aisle, and entrance sales of food and drinks high in fat, salt, and sugar (HFSS)	Prevention Promotions Retail Devolved Positioning	High	High	Very low
Mandate retailer and manufacturer calorie reduction targets Mandate large retail and manufacturing businesses to implement calorie reduction targets with a minimum reduction of 10% applied to product categories specified in Public Health England’s recommendations	Retail Prevention Industry Energy UK-wide	High	Low	Low
Incentivise reformulation of HFSS Incentivise businesses to reformulate HFSS foods through a £500 million reformulation grant fund	Retail Prevention Industry Energy Devolved	High	Very low	Low
Increase referrals to weight management services Everyone with a BMI of 30 or above is offered a free referral to a behavioural weight management programme via primary care.	Clinical Targeted Devolved Local	Mod.	High	High
Extend access to pharmacological interventions Provide an extra £500 million of ring-fenced funding per year to increase access to NICE recommended weight loss treatments (Orlistat, Liraglutide, Semaglutide)	Clinical Targeted Devolved	Mod.	High	Very high
Implement the ‘Recipe for Change’ policy	Prevention Fiscal Energy Industry Reformulation	Mod.	Mod.	Low
Advertising watershed Restrict screen (TV and online) advertising for HFSS products through the introduction of a 21:00-05:30 watershed and restrictions on online paid advertising	Prevention Enforced Advertising UK-wide Children	Low	High	Low
Enforce front of pack labelling Enforce provision of nutri-score front-of-pack labelling on retail packaging	Retail Prevention Information UK-wide Enforced	Low	Mod.	Low
Ban advertising of HFSS on public transport Restrict all outdoor advertising of HFSS on public transport (i.e. all bus stops, train stations and tube stations, implemented via national regulation)	Advertising Prevention UK-wide Enforced	Low	Mod.	Low
Mandate OOH sector to implement calorie reduction targets Mandate large businesses in the OOH sector to implement calorie reduction targets, with a minimum reduction goal of a 20% applied to products in categories specified in Public Health England's guidance	Prevention Out of home Industry Energy UK-wide	Low	Mod.	Low
Expand the soft drinks industry levy Extend the soft drinks industry levy to unsweetened juice and sweetened milk based drinks	Prevention Fiscal Industry Energy Reformulation Devolved	Low	Mod.	Mod.
Mass media campaigns Fund and roll out a mass media campaign aiming to promote healthy eating	Prevention Education Devolved Local	Very low	Mod.	Low
Obesity monitoring for children Continued universal BMI monitoring for children in reception and year 6	Prevention Monitoring Children Schools Devolved	Very low	Mod.	Low
Universal free school meals Introduce universal free school meals for all primary school children during term time	Prevention Schools Children Access Devolved Local	Very low	Low	Mod.
School-based physical activity Allocate £100 million per year to improve provision of physical education and increase physical activity in school children	Prevention Education Schools Children Devolved	Very low	High	Mod.
Ban HFSS volume promotions in out-of-home businesses Ban all volume promotions on HFSS products for medium and large out of home businesses (e.g. restaurants, coffee shops, fast food outlets)	Prevention Promotions Devolved Out of home	Very low	Low	Very low
Reduce number of takeaways in proximity to schools Restrict the number of new fast food restaurants opening within 400m of schools	Prevention Planning Retail Local Children Schools	Very low	Mod.	Very low
Nutritional education in schools Allocate £100 million year to improve nutrition and food preparation literacy in childhood through the state education system	Prevention Education Schools Children Devolved	Very low	Low	Low
Expand access to bariatric surgery Expand NHS provision of bariatric surgery to individuals with BMI > 35 with pre-existing condition (specifically, double the amount of people receiving surgery from approx 6,500 per year to 13,000 per year)	Clinical Targeted Devolved	Very low	High	Very high
Access to family-based weight management services Provide £85 million of funding per year for increased roll-out of family-based programmes to the local authorities with the highest childhood obesity rates	Children Targeted Devolved Local	Very low	Mod.	High
Data collection on healthiness of product portfolios Mandate data collection on proportion of healthy to unhealthy products via the Food Data Transparency Partnership (FDTP)	Retail Prevention Industry Energy Monitoring Devolved	Very low	Very low	Low
Fund citizen incentives to improve healthier behaviours Allocate £100 million per year to fund a programme of financial incentives to improve health behaviours in local authorities with the highest obesity rates	Prevention Education Access UK-wide Devolved	Very low	Very low	Low
Ban HFSS volume promotions in food retail businesses End all volume offers for HFSS products which contribute significant sugar and calories to children’s diets and are of most concern for childhood obesity, in the retail sector excluding small and micro businesses	Retail Prevention Promotions Children Devolved	Very low	Low	Low
Restrict delivery platform HFSS ‘location’ promotion restrictions on delivery platforms Restrict 'location' promotions on digital food/ drink delivery platforms of food and drinks high in fat, salt, and sugar (HFSS)	Prevention Promotions Retail Out of home Devolved	Very low	Mod.	Mod.
Grocery stores in deprived areas with low supermarket density Provide business rates relief of 75% to new or expanded businesses selling fresh fruit and vegetables opening in deprived areas with low supermarket density	Prevention Planning Access Local Devolved Fiscal	Very low	Very low	Low
Extend Healthy Start Extend the Healthy Start Scheme by providing £85 million of extra funding per year for five years	Prevention Access Children Fiscal	Very low	Low	Mod.
Invest in active transport Invest £500 million over 5 years in Local Authorities to plan and deliver active transport	Prevention Planning Local Devolved	Very low	Very low	Very high
Mandate health-based standards in public sector catering contracts Mandate the inclusion of health-based standards in catering contracts that serve public spaces (e.g. hospitals, prisons, social care)	Prevention Access Retail Devolved Local	Very low	Very low	Low
Become UK Baby Friendly Initiative accredited Fund and support all neonatal, maternity and health visiting services, Children’s Centres and midwifery and health visiting courses in universities to become Unicef UK Baby Friendly Initiative accredited.	Prevention Education Children Devolved	Very low	Very low	Very high
Obesity monitoring for children Continued universal BMI monitoring for children in reception and year 6	Prevention Monitoring Children Schools Devolved	Very low Relative reduction in obesity prevalence: 0% Relative reduction in obesity prevalence: 0%	Mod. Reliability and validity rating: 3/5 Reliability and validity rating: 3/5	Low Costs to governments over 5 years: £118.3m Value to governments over 5 years: £0 Costs to governments over 5 years: £118.3m Value to governments over 5 years: £0