Scottish Obesity Alliance

👋New Vacancy!

Do you have experience in public health, leadership and shaping policy?

If so, the role of Head of Obesity Action Scotland could be the one for you 🤝

Full details of the role 🔗http://bit.ly/4fgsbG1

Today, we & @soa-25.bsky.social submitted a public petition to 2026 Glasgow Commonwealth Games Company calling for a health promoting, family friendly Games, free of HFSS food and drink and other health harming products.

Find out more: tinyurl.com/4fwb9tfb

Last week the Scottish Government published proposed regulations on HFSS promotions. Good to see multi-buy promotions and checkouts included but temporary price reductions, meals deals, and free-standing displays are all missing. Check out our detailed analysis tinyurl.com/2ms789vm

💡Speaker spotlight from our & @obesityactionsc.bsky.social conference last week. Today’s focus is on the panel discussion session on Delivering a Good Food Nation for Scotland locally, and panellist Mandy Morgan from The Scottish Pantry Network.

Find out more: tinyurl.com/2jt2tzes

Speaker spotlight from our & @obesityactionsc.bsky.social conference last week. Today’s focus is on the session on HFSS Food Advertising and Sponsorship and speaker @franbernhardt.bsky.social from @sustainweb.org.

Find out more: tinyurl.com/uzp6jh9w

We welcome the priority on improving healthy weight within the Population Health Framework. We look forward to working with Scottish Government on delivering legislation to improve the food environment & health outcomes of those with obesity-related conditions.

tinyurl.com/2hdztj74

Scottish Government has further to go to respond to the scale and pace of the challenge and lead UK on this. The Population Health Framework presents opportunities towards comprehensive regulations on unhealthy food promotions to reduce consumption of unhealthy food.

tinyurl.com/2hdztj74

@soa-25.bsky.social welcomes Scottish Government taking steps regulating price and location-based promotions of unhealthy food promotions in-store and online, such as multi-buys and at checkouts in stores. This brings Scotland in line with England and Wales regulations.

💡Speaker spotlight from our & @obesityactionsc.bsky.social conference last week. Today's focus is on the session on Food Promotions and Inequalities in Obesity and speaker Alana McDonald from @fsscot.bsky.social. Find out more: tinyurl.com/4xe8sudh

@foodcoalition.scot
@fsscot.bsky.social
@publichealthscot.bsky.social
@highland.gov.uk
@cancerresearchuk.org
@rcpedin.bsky.social

This week we co-hosted with @obesityactionsc.bsky.social our 'Healthy Food Environment: Time to Deliver' conference. Over 80 delegates, Chairs and speakers contributed to the insightful and thought-provoking discussion on actions needed to transform our food environment in Scotland.

Read the factsheet ▶️https://tinyurl.com/4fv9b79j

At our & @obesityactionsc.bsky.social conference yesterday, Minister @jennimintomsp.bsky.social launched our latest factsheet on Obesity and Inequalities in Scotland which highlights key inequalities in obesity prevalence. Key to work with partners like @povertyalliance.org in reducing inequalities.

LIMITED TICKETS 🚨

Two thirds of tickets claimed for our FREE "Healthy Food Environment" conference on 10th June!

All sectors aligned to public health goals welcome. Features: Ministerial address, HFSS food regulations discussions, expert speakers.

Register now: tinyurl.com/26t67c9s

The Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games took steps to create a health-conscious event. OAS and @soa-25.bsky.social believe action must be taken to make this a priority for the 2026 Games.

Support our petition for healthy sporting events 👉 tinyurl.com/4ama8apj

More about the 2014 Games🔽

Healthy Food Environment: Time To Deliver Join us in exploring evidence-based approaches to improve Scotland's food environment and public health outcomes.

Registration now open! Join us for our free half-day conference "Healthy Food Environment: Time to Deliver" on June 10th in Glasgow. Featuring Minister @jennimintomsp.bsky.social & experts from NHS Tayside, @uofgshw.bsky.social and @fsscot.bsky.social Register now! tinyurl.com/26t67c9s

1/ Today, we’re spotlighting our prevention policy work at CRUK. Around 4 in 10 cancers are preventable in the UK. We need to shift from treating ill health to preventing it. Our team works to reduce cancers caused by the biggest risk factors:
• Tobacco 🚭
• Overweight and obesity
• Alcohol 🍺

A political economy analysis of the legislative response to unhealthy food and beverage marketing in Chile, Canada and the UK - Globalization and Health United Nations bodies call for legal responses to restrict children’s exposure to unhealthy food marketing; however, few governments have introduced legislative controls. This research studies the…

As we continue our work to restrict unhealthy food marketing in Scotland, this research provides valuable lessons on how to navigate the political challenges ahead. Read the full paper here: buff.ly/PQPgNCP

The paper recommends focusing the framing of regulations on children's health and creating environments that make healthy choices easier - exactly what these marketing restrictions aim to do.

In the UK, while initially supported by the government, implementation of online and TV restrictions was later paused citing the "cost of living" argument - even though these regulations weren't related to food prices.

But the research also identified what helped policies succeed:
• A committed champion in Parliament
• A dedicated health ministry with strong staff
• Clear mandate from government leadership
• Coordinated civil society support

The biggest barrier in all three countries was a system that prioritises commercial interests over public health.

THREAD: New research looks at the political challenges Chile, Canada and the UK faced when introducing laws to protect children from harmful food marketing.

Both @obesityactionsc.bsky.social and @soa-25.bsky.social making an '⭕️' for obesity to show their support on #WorldObesityDay #WOD2025 #ChangingSystems

📝Data referenced: @foodfoundation.bsky.social The State of the Nation’s Food Industry Report 2024.

✨ With mandatory targets and transparent reporting, together, we can transform our food system to support healthier lives. #WorldObesityDay2025 #ChangingSystemsHealthierLives

In Scotland, we need our government to show leadership by implementing mandatory targets for businesses to increase the availability of healthier foods and reduce promotion of less healthy options.

Less than a third of major UK food businesses have targets for healthy food sales or disclose data on the healthiness of their sales. Without mandatory requirements, progress remains slow.

🧵 Today is #WorldObesityDay. For too long, obesity has been framed as an individual responsibility. But the evidence is clear: we need system-wide change to create environments that support healthier choices.

Changing life expectancy in European countries 1990–2021: a subanalysis of causes and risk factors from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021 The countries that best maintained improvements in life expectancy after 2011 (Norway, Iceland, Belgium, Denmark, and Sweden) did so through better maintenance of reductions in mortality from cardiova...

Read the full paper here: www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...