Food & Health Alliance

Workshop 6. Healthy weight outcome framework

Healthy weight has been described by WHO as one of the great public health challenges of the 21^st century.

And there is no doubt it is a growing problem in Scotland, presenters Michael Craig and Emma Halliday, from NHS Health Scotland, told workshop participants. Most Scots over 16 were now overweight or obese and the trend had been rising steadily since 1995.

The aim of the workshop, they said, was to raise awareness of the Healthy Weight Outcome Framework they had been involved in devising and its potential benefits and uses for participants.

The framework focuses on individual behaviour and capabilities as well as wider social, economic and physical environment factors that have a bearing on people’s health and weight. It also looks at three types of outcome – short-term (that is, what do you expect to happen?); intermediate (what would you like to happen?); and long-term (what would you love to happen?).

This was combined in a strategic model for healthy weight which includes intermediate outcomes as well as long-term and national outcomes.

The benefits of using this approach, said Craig and Emma, was that it could help set local priorities and encourage debate on shared priority outcomes. It could also create links between local service delivery outcomes and higher level outcomes in Single Outcome Agreements (SOAs) or National Performance Frameworks. And simply taking part would be useful in itself – the process was important as the output.

Following the presentation participants worked in small groups to develop and build ‘logic models’ aimed at changing the availability and affordability of both healthy and energy dense (less healthy) food and drinks

They were also encouraged to provide feedback on the process and the tools as well as make suggestions for additional activities and outcomes that should be included in the models.

Themes from this feedback included:

• Logic modelling made more sense when people could try it out themselves
• It was important to consider who were the beneficiaries of projects or programmes.  They could be divided into two different groups - the intended recipients and professionals and partners.  Partners needed to be reached too.  
• Useful feedback was provided on gaps in the activities and outcomes within the models.  Participants stressed the importance of reaching the media who could create confusion about messages related to food and healthy weight; the role of allotments; incentive schemes; breakfast clubs, community cafes and the relevance of current initiatives such as Healthy Working Lives and the Curriculum for Excellence.