Understanding lived experiences of navigating supermarket foodscapes of people living with obesity on a low income: the Food insecurity in people living with obesity (FIO) food project.

Approximately 8 million adults and 3 million children in the UK are experiencing food insecurity in 2024. In the UK, healthier foods are three times more expensive per calorie than unhealthy foods. This limits dietary choices to a low-price, high-energy combination, which can promote weight gain. Sustainable, healthy diets should be promoted and affordable for all. The FIO Food Project's overall aim is to provide actionable evidence for policy on retail strategies to address dietary inequalities in people living with obesity and food insecurity, to support sustainable and healthier food choices in the UK food system

The cost-of-living crisis is feeding the paradox of obesity and food insecurities in the UK

Funding: Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC); BB/W018020/1 - FIO-FOOD, Food Insecurity in people living with Obesity - improving sustainable and healthier food choices in the retail FOOD environment.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Tackling dietary inequalitiesin the UK food system : An exploration of stakeholders’ experiences to deliver national recommendations for policy and health care practitioners

Thank you to all the stakeholders and excellent speakers (Heather Kelman, Dr Adrian Brown& Patient and Public Involvement Representatives) who provided extremely valuable contributions in presenting different perspectives on the problem of obesity and food insecurity. Also, a big thank you to NESTA who kindly offered their space, technical support and hospitality for the workshop in London. And a very special thank you to all Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) Advocates who shared their experience of living with obesity and food insecurity, providing often very personal, eye-opening insights which triggered an honest discussion between all attendees involved. We are very grateful to the Food Foundation’s Veg Advocates, Obesity Voices and Nourish Scotland who enabled participation of their PPI groups in the workshop

The cost-of-living crisis is feeding the paradox of obesity and food insecurities in the UK

Interconnections between the cost of living crisis and health inequality

Food insecurity in people living with obesity: Improving sustainable and healthier food choices in the retail food environment—the FIO Food project

At both UK and global level, dietary consumption patterns need to change to address environmental, health and inequality challenges. Despite considerable policy interventions, the prevalence of overweight and obesity in the United Kingdom has continued to rise with obesity now a leading cause of mortality and morbidity. Obesity prevalence is greater among those on lower incomes and the current UK food system, including government policy, does not effectively address this. Current behavioural approaches, without the support of structural changes in the system, may even widen the inequalities gap. Hence, using behavioural insights from those living with obesity and food insecurity, the project will explore potential avenues that can be applied in the food system to promote healthier choices in the food retail environment. The National Food Strategy report recommends that the UK food system should ensure "safe, healthy, affordable food; regardless of where people live or how much they earn". However, the association between food insecurity and the development of obesity is not well understood in relation to purchasing behaviours in the UK retail food environment, nor is the potential effectiveness of interventions that seek to prevent and reduce the impact of diet-induced health harms. The FIO Food (Food insecurity in people living with obesity - improving sustainable and healthier food choices in the retail food environment) project provides a novel and multi-disciplinary collaborative approach with co-development at the heart to address these challenges. Using four interlinked work packages, the FIO Food project will combine our knowledge of large-scale population data with an understanding of lived experiences of food shopping for people living with obesity and food insecurity, to develop solutions to support more sustainable and healthier food choices in the UK retail food environment

The impact of the cost of living crisis and food insecurity on food purchasing behaviours and food preparation practices in people living with obesity.

Lower income households are at greater risk of food insecurity and poor diet quality than higher income households. In high-income countries, food insecurity is associated with high levels of obesity, and in the UK specifically, the cost of living crisis (i.e., where the cost of everyday essentials has increased quicker than wages) is likely to have exacerbated existing dietary inequalities. There is currently a lack of understanding of the impact of the current UK cost of living crisis on food purchasing and food preparation practices of people living with obesity (PLWO) and food insecurity, however this knowledge is critical in order to develop effective prevention and treatment approaches to reducing dietary inequalities. Using an online survey (N=583) of adults residing in England or Scotland with a body mass index (BMI) of ≥30 kg/m2, participants self-reported on food insecurity, diet quality, perceived impact of the cost of living crisis, and their responses to this in terms of food purchasing behaviours and food preparation practices. Regression analyses found that participants adversely impacted by the cost of living crisis reported experiencing food insecurity. Additionally, food insecurity was associated with use of specific purchasing behaviours (i.e., use of budgeting, use of supermarket offers) and food preparation practices (i.e., use of energy-saving appliances, use of resourcefulness). Exploratory analyses indicated that participants adversely impacted by the cost of living crisis and who used budgeting had low diet quality, whereas use of meal planning was associated with high diet quality. These findings highlight the fragility of food budgets and the coping strategies used by PLWO and food insecurity during the cost of living crisis. Policy measures and interventions are urgently needed that address the underlying economic factors contributing to food insecurity, to improve access to and affordability of healthier foods for all

In people living with obesity, how is food insecurity associated with healthier, more sustainable food purchases?

Exploring what helps/hinders People Living with Obesity (PLWO) and food insecurity purchase healthier, more sustainable food choices in the UK retail food environment. WP1 of the UKRI funded FIO Food project

The impact of the cost of living crisis and food insecurity on food purchasing behaviours and food preparation practices in people living with obesity

Lower income households are at greater risk of food insecurity and poor diet quality than higher income households. In high-income countries, food insecurity is associated with high levels of obesity, and in the UK specifically, the cost of living crisis (i.e., where the cost of everyday essentials has increased quicker than wages) is likely to have exacerbated existing dietary inequalities. There is currently a lack of understanding of the impact of the current UK cost of living crisis on food purchasing and food preparation practices of people living with obesity (PLWO) and food insecurity, however this knowledge is critical in order to develop effective prevention and treatment approaches to reducing dietary inequalities. Using an online survey (N=583) of adults residing in England or Scotland with a body mass index (BMI) of ≥30 kg/m2, participants self-reported on food insecurity, diet quality, perceived impact of the cost of living crisis, and their responses to this in terms of food purchasing behaviours and food preparation practices. Regression analyses found that participants adversely impacted by the cost of living crisis reported experiencing food insecurity. Additionally, food insecurity was associated with use of specific purchasing behaviours (i.e., use of budgeting, use of supermarket offers) and food preparation practices (i.e., use of energy-saving appliances, use of resourcefulness). Exploratory analyses indicated that participants adversely impacted by the cost of living crisis and who used budgeting had low diet quality, whereas use of meal planning was associated with high diet quality. These findings highlight the fragility of food budgets and the coping strategies used by PLWO and food insecurity during the cost of living crisis. Policy measures and interventions are urgently needed that address the underlying economic factors contributing to food insecurity, to improve access to and affordability of healthier foods for all