Morning, Friday, 11th July 2025
Online
This conference will examine next steps for obesity policy in England, and latest thinking on the way forward for developing effective weight management, care and prevention strategies.
Policy developments and coordination
It will bring together stakeholders and policymakers together to discuss key issues for tackling obesity in the development of a new National Food Strategy, and its coordination with measures being outlined in the forthcoming draft 10-Year Health Plan, as well as government ambitions around mental wellbeing, addressing inequality, and supporting people back into the workplace.
Commissioning, support and local care systems
Delegates will consider changes needed to commissioning and use of technology, as well as to the wider health system, for the NHS to deliver improved outcomes for obesity. Sessions will examine the way forward for improving support for adults, children and families regarding weight management. This includes strategies for improving integration of local care systems, as well as latest thinking on consumer behaviour change, and addressing challenges for reducing inequalities and improving access to care.
Prevention, behaviour change and early intervention
The conference will be an opportunity to discuss priorities for supporting health professionals in the prevention and management of obesity in their patient populations. Areas for discussion include training and education on how to initiate conversations around weight, and tackling health inequalities. It comes with the new Enhanced Service Specification launched in April, which aims to support GP practices to proactively support patients living with obesity. Sessions will consider approaches for identification and maintaining an obesity register, improving pathways in the system, and engaging on behaviour change.
Developments in pharmaceutical and lifestyle interventions
Further sessions focus on the role of weight loss injections and medication as a tool to support patients with weight management, with NICE recently updating guidance to encourage utilisation alongside increased physical activity and a reduced-calorie diet. Discussion will explore issues for regulation, delivery, clinical practice and accessibility to pharmaceutical support going forward, as well as strategies to support patient access to fresh produce, physical activity and innovation to support monitoring and obesity self-management. We also expect discussion on frameworks for collaboration between primary care and specialist services alongside the voluntary and third sector, and new strategies for prevention and early intervention.
Research, innovation and treatment pathways
Priorities will be examined for research to improve on understanding of underlying causes of obesity, next steps for developing new treatments, and assessing effectiveness of different clinical approaches as the Government signed an agreement with Eli Lilly last year, with the collaboration a key part of trialling new approaches to obesity treatment. Delegates will consider the future outlook for obesity treatments as part of routine care and developing a full package of options for patients with obesity.
The food environment, marketing restrictions and priorities for public health
Latest thinking on processed foods and health outcomes, and the wider food environment will be considered as the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition expresses concern around adverse health outcomes related to processed food, calling for further research to build the evidence base going forward. Concerns from the House of Lords Food, Diet and Obesity Committee’s Recipe for health: a plan to fix our broken food system will also be considered - which flagged the consequences of obesity as a public health emergency - with discussion on what more needs to be done around industry reporting, accountability and oversight, mandatory industry regulation, taxation and advertising.
Sessions will discuss opportunities and challenges of current government initiatives, including introducing advertising restrictions of HFSS products on TV and online, with implementation recently being delayed to 2026, and consultation launched in April on potential expansion of the Soft Drinks Industry Levy.
Consumer education, labelling and industry reformulation
Further discussion will consider strategies for education and enabling consumers to make healthy food choices, options for food labelling, and learning from international approaches, as well as ways to support the food industry reformulating product portfolios and contributing to the support of healthy diets through inclusion of key nutrients, such as fibre.
All delegates will be able to contribute to the output of the conference, which will be shared with parliamentary, ministerial, departmental and regulatory offices, and more widely. This includes the full proceedings and additional articles submitted by delegates. As well as key stakeholders, those due to attend include officials from Defra; FSA; DHSC; DBT; MHCLG; OLS; DIT; DWP; House of Commons Library; the Welsh Government; and The Scottish Government.
