Countering obesity by combining behavioural insights and novel ICT tools: a workshop report

Abstract

The levels of adult and childhood obesity in Europe provide grounds for concern. The problem is persistent and needs particular targeting due to the consequences on public health. In seeking novel approaches to tackle the obesity issue, the Institute for Health and Consumer Protection (IHCP) together with the Institute for Prospective Technological Studies (IPTS) organised the workshop 'Countering obesity by combining behavioural insights and novel ICT tools'. The workshop presented the state of play regarding research and interventions that make use of ICT tools and behavioural insights to target obesity and promote physical activity (PA) worldwide. The data presented by WHO made clear that obesity prevention should be high on government agendas. The discussions that followed are reported in this document and highlight the potential of behaviourally informed measures in this field. The examples presented in the workshop demonstrated that ICT tools such as social network online platforms, smartphone applications, GPS and physical activity trackers and video or exer-games can be used with success as vehicles for delivering such behavioural-informed interventions. Other applications of ICT in addressing the problem of childhood obesity were also discussed. For example, harmonised e-health records can be useful to monitor and collect children's growth data. Of concern, though, is the fact that the ICT and the internet are themselves being increasingly used in marketing practices of high-fat, salt and sugar (HFSS) food products to children. The workshop was not only used to exchange best practices in this cross-disciplinary field. Taking advantage of the experience and knowledge of all the experts present, we developed a proposal for a pilot experimental project involving social networks and ICT to explore the effectiveness of different reward and incentive schemes to promote physical activity in European children.