Rights statement: This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Williams, G. (2015) The IDEFICS intervention: what can we learn for public policy?. Obesity Reviews, 16: 151–161. doi: 10.1111/obr.12355 which has been published in final form at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/obr.12355/abstract This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance With Wiley Terms and Conditions for self-archiving.
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Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - The IDEFICS intervention
T2 - what can we learn for public policy?
AU - Williams, Garrath David
N1 - This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Williams, G. (2015) The IDEFICS intervention: what can we learn for public policy?. Obesity Reviews, 16: 151–161. doi: 10.1111/obr.12355 which has been published in final form at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/obr.12355/abstract This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance With Wiley Terms and Conditions for self-archiving.
PY - 2015/12/27
Y1 - 2015/12/27
N2 - Introduction: As considered in the rest of this volume, the effects of the IDEFICS intervention on obesity rates were not encouraging. This paper considers how far findings from the IDEFICS study and similar intervention studies are relevant to the policy process and political decision-making.Methods: The paper offers theoretical and policy-level arguments concerning the evaluation of evidence and its implications for policymaking. The paper is divided into three parts. The first considers problems in the nature and applicability of evidence gained from school- and community-level obesity interventions. The second part considers whether such interventions present a model that policy-makers could implement. The third part considers how we should think about policy measures given the limited evidence we can obtain and the many different goals that public policy must take account of.Results: The paper argues that (1) there are clear reasons why we are not obtaining good evidence for effective school- and community-level interventions; (2) public policy is not in a good position to mandate larger-scale, long-term versions of these interventions; and (3) there are serious problems in obtaining ‘evidence’ for most public policy options, but this should not deter us from pursuing options that tackle systemic problems and have a good likelihood of delivering benefits on several dimensions.Conclusions: Research on school- and community-level obesity interventions has not produced much evidence that is directly relevant to policymaking. Instead, it shows how difficult it is to affect obesity rates without changing wider social and economic factors. Public policy should focus on these.
AB - Introduction: As considered in the rest of this volume, the effects of the IDEFICS intervention on obesity rates were not encouraging. This paper considers how far findings from the IDEFICS study and similar intervention studies are relevant to the policy process and political decision-making.Methods: The paper offers theoretical and policy-level arguments concerning the evaluation of evidence and its implications for policymaking. The paper is divided into three parts. The first considers problems in the nature and applicability of evidence gained from school- and community-level obesity interventions. The second part considers whether such interventions present a model that policy-makers could implement. The third part considers how we should think about policy measures given the limited evidence we can obtain and the many different goals that public policy must take account of.Results: The paper argues that (1) there are clear reasons why we are not obtaining good evidence for effective school- and community-level interventions; (2) public policy is not in a good position to mandate larger-scale, long-term versions of these interventions; and (3) there are serious problems in obtaining ‘evidence’ for most public policy options, but this should not deter us from pursuing options that tackle systemic problems and have a good likelihood of delivering benefits on several dimensions.Conclusions: Research on school- and community-level obesity interventions has not produced much evidence that is directly relevant to policymaking. Instead, it shows how difficult it is to affect obesity rates without changing wider social and economic factors. Public policy should focus on these.
KW - Evidence
KW - Intervention
KW - Judgment
KW - Policy
U2 - 10.1111/obr.12355
DO - 10.1111/obr.12355
M3 - Journal article
VL - 16
SP - 151
EP - 161
JO - Obesity Reviews
JF - Obesity Reviews
SN - 1467-7881
IS - Suppl. 2
ER -