Political Commitment to Tackling Childhood Obesity in Local Government- A Public Health Workforce Perspective

In England, the shift of responsibility for public health from the NHS to local authorities gave councils the mandate to improve population health. Although there is no specific mandate to reduce childhood obesity, there is a national ambition to halve childhood obesity by 2030. In addition, Public Health England considers councils to be ideally placed to provide systems-wide local leadership for action on obesity. However, little is known about the political commitment which will be necessary for tackling this complex issue within local authorities. This qualitative study aimed to understand how political commitment to tackling childhood obesity has been demonstrated and the strategies used to gain political commitment, as perceived by public health officers. Public health staff from 13 local authorities which are considered comparators for Southampton were invited to participate in semi-structured telephone interviews. The questions were informed by the five levels of political commitment (rhetorical, institutional, operational, embedded and system-wide) defined by Baker et al. (2019) Interviews were transcribed and a theoretical thematic analysis was undertaken to establish the extent of these levels of commitment. The five levels of political commitment were demonstrated in local authorities to support tackling childhood obesity, but the study revealed a particular role for public health officers in securing this commitment. The range of activities undertaken by officers included regular briefings, adapting messages to align with councillors’ priorities, work to develop champions among political leaders, gathering data/insights, creating a narrative and engaging with multiple stakeholders. Using local authority policy infrastructure and processes was key to bringing attention to the issue. Political commitment to tackling childhood obesity can be developed and system-wide commitment might be facilitated through officers being able to navigate local policy process