Rapid review of evidence to inform the Northern Ireland Obesity Prevention Strategy 2023-33

BACKGROUND: The Department of Health in Northern Ireland is leading on the development of a 10-year strategy on obesity prevention (2023-33). The Institute of Public Health conducted a rapid review to identify international policies relating to obesity prevention to populate a ‘policy options matrix’ and support obesity policy development. METHODS: A rapid review was conducted on nine policy measures. The search was conducted in May 2022 and included any systematic review published in the English language in the last ten years available on PubMed and had no conflicts of interest declared. Where no systematic review evidence was available the criteria were expanded to include any type of review level evidence. The search was conducted by two researchers who assessed returned articles in a two-stage screening process. RESULTS: 51 review articles (48 systematic reviews, two scoping and one narrative review) met all inclusion criteria. The articles were summarised into a policy options matrix under the headings; author/year, aim, country/countries, type of evidence, evidence quality, target population, results, equity impact and unintended consequences. The findings were summarised and categorised as follows: food labelling, food packaging, food reformulation, taxation/subsidies, advertising, marketing and sponsorship, food and physical activity environment, and target population policy measures including socially disadvantaged groups and indigenous groups. CONCLUSIONS: The majority of review articles reported low to moderate evidence quality. The most consistent evidence was for policies that aimed to make healthier options the most accessible, cheapest, and appealing and in policies which reduced access to and/or increased the prices of food and drinks high in fat, salt or sugar. KEY MESSAGES: • The most effective policies are those improve the food and physical activity environment in which people are born, live, and learn. • Evidence also supports policies which target specific population groups.