Lauren Bowes Byatt
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laurenbowesbyatt.bsky.social
Lauren Bowes Byatt
@laurenbowesbyatt.bsky.social
170 followers 310 following 46 posts
Deputy Director, A Healthy Life at Nesta. Trustee at Hestia. Former civil servant. Geordie now obessed with north London. Views my own.
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laurenbowesbyatt.bsky.social
Thank to @laylamoran.bsky.social and @commonshealth.bsky.social for having me.

And to my fellow panellists and the amazing panel afterwards @katfoodjenner.bsky.social @oha-updates.bsky.social @biteback2030.bsky.social
November 6, 2025 at 12:59 PM
laurenbowesbyatt.bsky.social
Just saw this... have you read Say Nothing or Killing Thatcher? Both on IRA or troubles, but both written so well.

Health-related, but assuming you've already read Empire of Pain re opioid crisis?

Non-Troubles books.. i also loved Thirteen Days by RFK (not junior!) on cuban missile crisis.
July 17, 2025 at 5:15 PM
laurenbowesbyatt.bsky.social
Let me know what you think!

You can read about our work with @moreincommonuk.bsky.social here: www.nesta.org.uk/project-upda...

And find out more about health targets for supermarkets here: www.nesta.org.uk/project-upda...

6/6
Taking action on obesity: what do the public think?
We ran a series of focus groups alongside online surveys to reveal public attitudes on taking action to reduce obesity rates
www.nesta.org.uk
July 17, 2025 at 4:52 PM
laurenbowesbyatt.bsky.social
3 in 5 people supported a @nestauk.bsky.social idea for supermarkets to be set targets to sell healthier food. This idea former part of the UK govt’s recent healthy food standard.

And... this was resilient. We tested using diff language (negative, positive etc) & support remained strong

5/6
This chart is an infographic that visualises public opinion on mandatory health targets for supermarkets to help reduce obesity. Chart title: Three in five people (59%) think that mandatory health targets for supermarkets are a good idea. Below the title, there's a legend indicating what each colour of person icon represents: Bad Idea: Red icon Neutral or Don't Know: Yellow icon Good Idea: Blue icon Underneath the legend, the question being addressed by the visual is: What are your views on mandatory health targets to help reduce obesity? The visual itself consists of a grid of six person icons: One red icon, representing ‘Bad Idea’. One yellow icon, representing ‘Neutral or Don't Know’. Three blue icons, representing ‘Good Idea’. Horizontal bar chart titled: More than half of Britons think health targets for supermarkets are a good idea despite various ways of phrasing the policy. It illustrates the total support for health targets for supermarkets based on different ways the policy was phrased. The y-axis lists four different ‘messages’ or phrasings, and the x-axis represents the ‘Total Support for the policy’ as a percentage, ranging from 0% to 70%. All bars are coloured in blue. The breakdown of support for each phrasing is as follows: Positive Message: 69% support Neutral Message: 65% support Positive & Negative Message: 64% support Negative Message: 52% support The chart visually demonstrates that support remains above 50% across all phrasings, reinforcing the headline that a majority of Britons support the policy regardless of how it's presented.
July 17, 2025 at 4:52 PM
laurenbowesbyatt.bsky.social
Most of the policies around healthy diets are supported too. It's only weight loss drugs where the public become more sceptical.

Noting the chart below is NET support (after we subtracted opposition)

(FI @rosiebeacon.bsky.social might be of interest on GLP1s...)

4/6
Horizontal bar chart titled: Net Support for each of the policies to tackle obesity. It displays the net support percentage for various policies aimed at tackling obesity, with policies listed on the y-axis and net support percentage on the x-axis. The policies are ordered from highest to lowest net support, with one exception at the very bottom. Here's a breakdown of the net support for each policy: More Sports & Exercise at Schools: 67% 'Traffic light' labelling on food packaging: 66% Public health campaign to encourage exercise: 61% Restricting advertising of unhealthy food: 56% Make businesses report nutritional value of sales: 55% Targets for supermarkets to sell more healthy foods: 50% Restrict advertising of unhealthy foods on apps: 48% Minimum price per unit for alcohol: 26% Banning promotions on unhealthy foods: 23% Providing more weight loss drugs: -8% (This indicates a net opposition to this policy) All bars are coloured in blue, with the length of the bar corresponding to the percentage of net support. The negative percentage for ‘Providing more weight loss drugs’ is represented by a bar extending to the left of the 0% mark.
July 17, 2025 at 4:52 PM
laurenbowesbyatt.bsky.social
People get that food businesses impact what we eat. Supermarkets are where we get over 80% of our food.

Almost 4 in 5 people see supermarkets as influencing their diets...

And people want supermarkets to act with half the public wanting supermarkets to sell healthier food.

3/6
This chart is an infographic that visualises the extent to which Britons believe supermarkets influence their diets. Chart title: 78% of Britons say that supermarkets have either 'a great deal' or 'some' influence over their diets. Below the title, there's a legend indicating different levels of influence represented by person icons of various colours: Don't know: Light purple icon Not at all: Dark purple icon Not much: Green icon To some extent: Light blue icon A great deal: Dark blue icon The majority of the chart is taken up by a grid of person icons, visually representing the percentages of each opinion. The most prominent colours are light blue and dark blue, reinforcing the headline that a large percentage of people feel supermarkets have 'a great deal' or 'some' influence. Breakdown of responses: Don't know: 2 Not at all: 5 Not much: 15 To some extent: 50 A great deal: 28 Below the grid of icons, there is a question: To what extent, if at all, do you think supermarkets influence the foods that you buy and consume?
July 17, 2025 at 4:52 PM
laurenbowesbyatt.bsky.social
People do think obesity is a priority issue and want Government (Westminster in this instance) to do more!

Echoing similar findings from @oha-updates.bsky.social, @ippr.org (via @amygandon.bsky.social & Yasmeen) and @healthfoundation.bsky.social...

2/6
A pie chart illustrating public opinion in the UK regarding the government's efforts to tackle obesity. Chart title: "Nearly half the public (49 per cent) think the government isn't doing enough to tackle obesity in the UK". The pie chart is divided into four sections, each representing a different opinion: Not doing enough: This is the largest section, coloured blue, and represents 49% of respondents. Doing about the right amount: This section is coloured light grey and represents 30% of respondents. Don't know: This section is coloured pink and represents 18% of respondents. Doing too much: This is the smallest section, colored teal, and represents 4% of respondents.
July 17, 2025 at 4:52 PM
laurenbowesbyatt.bsky.social
Thanks to all those we've worked with, engaged or challenged us along the way! @katfoodjenner.bsky.social @oha-updates.bsky.social @thekingsfund.bsky.social @davidjbuck.bsky.social @admbriggs.bsky.social @impurbanhealth.bsky.social @hannahbrins.bsky.social @carolinecerny.bsky.social
June 29, 2025 at 3:04 PM