Who should take action?

• Health and wellbeing boards
• Executive directors of local authority services
• Directors of public health and public health teams
• Community-based health workers, volunteers, groups or networks
• Community engagement workers such as health trainers

Actions

• Local authority chief executive officers should ensure there is an effective public health team in place to develop a coordinated approach to the prevention of obesity. This should include:

• a director or lead public health consultant to provide strategic direction
  a senior coordinator who has dedicated time to support the director or consultant in their work on obesity and oversee the local programme. The coordinator should have:

• specialist expertise in obesity prevention and community engagement
• the skills and experience to work across organisational boundaries
• community health champions (volunteering with community or voluntary organisations) and other people who work directly with the community (such as health trainers and community engagement teams) to encourage local participation and support delivery of the programme.

• Coordinators should advise commissioners on contracts that support the local obesity agenda to ensure a 'joined-up' approach. They should encourage commissioners to promote better integration between providers through the use of joint contracts and supply chain models that provide a range of local options. The aim is to tackle the wider determinants of obesity and support local people to make changes in their behaviour to prevent obesity.

• Directors of public health should ensure coordinators engage frontline staff (such as health visitors, environmental health officers and neighbourhood wardens) who can contribute to local action on obesity.

• Directors of public health should ensure frontline staff set aside dedicated time to deliver specific aspects of the obesity agenda and receive training to improve their understanding of the needs of the local community and improve their practical implementation skills.

• Coordinators and community engagement workers (such as health trainers and community development teams) should work together to develop and maintain a map of local people and assets that could support a community-wide approach to combating obesity. This includes:

• community-based health workers such as health visitors, community pharmacists or weight management group leaders
• existing networks of volunteers and community champions, health trainers and community organisations such as religious groups, sports clubs, school governors or parent groups
• people working in the community, such as the police, park wardens, leisure centre staff, active travel coordinators, school crossing patrol officers or school and workplace canteen staff
• physical activity organisations and networks such as county sport physical activity partnerships
• unused open spaces or meeting places that could be used for community-based events and courses.​

• Coordinators and community engagement workers should jointly plan how they will work with population groups, or in geographic areas, with high levels of obesity. Plans should consider the motivations and characteristics of the target groups, in relation to obesity. Coordinators should also map where public, private, community and voluntary organisations are already working in partnership to improve health or on other relevant issues.​

• Coordinators, supported by the director of public health, should encourage and support partnership working at both strategic and operational levels. They should ensure partner organisations are clear about their contribution and responsibilities. They should consider asking them to sign an agreement that pledges specific relevant actions in the short and long term.