Lancashire councils explore how to tackle the commercial drivers of poor health

As part of the Lancashire Healthier Places programme, we joined Lancashire County Council’s Public Health team and officers from across Lancashire’s district councils to explore what local government can do about the products, marketing and business practices that shape our health.

Unhealthy food is cheap, heavily advertised and on almost every high street. That isn’t down to individual choice. It’s the result of commercial decisions, and councils have more power to shape them than many realise.

That was the focus of a Community of Practice workshop hosted by Lancashire County Council as part of its Lancashire Healthier Places programme. HEG facilitated the session, which brought together districts from across the county council and partner organisations earlier in September.

The workshop aimed to support districts to leverage the Healthy Weight Declaration into practical local action by increasing understanding of the commercial drivers of unhealthy weight and exploring how these can be addressed through local policy and practice, in support of the pan-Lancashire Healthy Hearts Strategy.

The session opened with an introduction to the commercial determinants of health. These are the ways that products, pricing, marketing and lobbying by industries such as food and drink shape people’s health. Colleagues from the county council’s public health team then set out how Lancashire is already responding. Participants discussed the commercial pressures in their own areas and the tools councils can use to push back when these forces harm our health.

Robin Ireland, Director of Research at HEG said:

“District councils hold some of the most practical levers we have. They can use planning to limit new hot food takeaways, keep junk food ads off the sites they own, and decide who sponsors their events and what’s sold in their leisure centres.

“Used well, those powers can make the healthy choice the easy choice for whole communities, not just for people who can afford it.”

Want to find out more about the Healthy Weight Declaration or our work on commercial determinants? Please email: info@heg.org.uk