Is it working? A closer look at Collaboration for Healthier Lives UK

In the UK, despite a world-renowned public health system, being healthy can be difficult for some. The COVID-19 lockdown hasn’t helped, as a lack of physical movement, school closures and limited access to healthy snacks has led to children gaining weight even faster, as highlighted in a recent article in The Times. Childhood obesity is a genuine concern, and industry has been working to support actions that empower families and communities to live healthier lives.

Collaboration for Healthier Lives UK brings together a coalition of members from The Consumer Goods Forum’s global Collaboration for Healthier Lives Coalition of Action alongside key local stakeholders – including public health authorities, academics, local actors and government figures – to drive behavioural change and positively impact consumer health in the London Boroughs of Lambeth and Southwark.

Established in Spring 2019, CHL UK includes some of the UK’s leading food retailers and manufacturers. Its focus is families living on lower incomes, bringing companies together to improve the healthiness of shopping baskets for those with less time and money to spend. In fact, our commitment is to design and test initiatives that work particularly for those on the lowest incomes, as we acknowledge the role inequality plays in driving poor health.

18 months on, we have just published our annual progress report. Of course, the two questions I often get from the media and new organisations interested in joining CHL UK are “What impact are you having?” and “Is it working?” The new report, produced with the support of Impact on Urban Health, including data analysed by the University of Oxford, answers in part these questions.  It also shows some great case studies of what we have learnt to date. I’d encourage everyone interested in this topic to read the full report and I wanted to share some thoughts with you.

1. We have learned a lot, but there is no silver bullet

We have introduced a number of nudges and interventions over the course of CHL UK. Some have been more successful than others, but we have learned in order to generate a step-change impact, multiple interventions will be needed at any one time, and they need to be both sustained and scaled. One-off interventions in single stores will not deliver the impact we need. Many interventions are needed if our industry is to drive positive change and make progress.

Just some examples from some trials that generated positive results include:

• 13% more fruit and vegetables sold
• 19% less fried chips sold, substituted for a healthier baked variety
• 22% fewer packets of confectionary sold

These are promising results, but there is no silver bullet or quick win, and there is also a list of trials that did not work. Success will take a sustained effort from all stakeholders and the interventions need to be commercially sustainable. We also need to put more emphasis on scale, focusing on fewer trials but going big when we do. The data suggests we need to dig deeper as some interventions are barely scratching the surface.

2. We know data is key to driving change

The old saying, “you can’t manage what you don’t measure” is true here too. Proper data analysis is a critical step to understanding what’s working and what’s not. Data sharing takes time and we need to ensure data protection rules are met and we need time to conduct a proper analysis.

The University of Oxford has been a key partner in this effort, and we are delighted to have their analysis included in the report. If we are to learn and improve, partnerships with academia are important as we move forwards.