The Obesity Learning Centre (OLC) – a website supporting those working towards a healthy weight and reducing obesity levels

OBJECTIVES: Develop a website, the OLC, which supports those people who work on promoting a healthy weight and tackling obesity. Research shows that original networks where sharing of information and peer interaction take place create solutions to current public health challenges. METHODS: Considerations that are relevant when building a new information service as well as the technical set up and information needs of users were taken into account prior to building the OLC and during continuous development and maintenance. RESULTS: The OLC provides global news, resources and tools and link out to other networks, websites and organisations providing similar useful information. The OLC also uses social networking tools to highlight new and important information. DISCUSSION: Networks contribute to a stronger community that can respond to emerging challenges in public health. The OLC improves connections of people and services from different backgrounds and organisations. Some challenges exist in the technical set up and also because of other aspects, e.g. public health information and differing information needs. CONCLUSION: Public health work programmes should include networking opportunities where public policy can be disseminated. The provision of necessary tools and resources can lead to better decision-making, save time and money and lead to improved public health outcomes.