London & South East

Dr Zeynep Nas
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UCL, London

The London and South East ASO Network is managed by Dr Zeynep Nas, Dr Dimitrios Koutoukidis, and Jessica Packer. Get in touch with any ideas you may have for future meetings.

Meetings

Past Meetings

Based on recent events and the rapidly evolving nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have decided to postpone the ‘Weight stigma: Insights from research, practice and lived experience’ ASO London & South East of England network event that was planned for Wednesday the 25th of March 2020.

We are planning for a later date (depending how the situation develops) and we are able to ensure the health and safety of our Speakers and guests.

We have not taken this decision lightly as this is hugely disappointing for all of us. We recognise that we are responding to the bigger picture of protecting healthcare professionals, the vulnerable and the general public from COVID-19, and to prevent the spread of the virus.

Thank you to our wonderful Speakers for putting in the effort to be there at the event. We had all been looking forward to it. Importantly, we want to highlight that this event is postponed, not cancelled. The show will go on, just not right now.

We appreciate your understanding during this uncertain time.

London & South East regional network ASO relaunch meeting: Weight stigma: Insights from research, practice and lived experience

25 March 2020, 14:00-17:00, Leolin Price Lecture Theatre, Institute of Child Health, Holborn, London.

The meeting will be to provide attendees with a multidisciplinary overview of the current and upcoming challenges of working in the prevention and treatment of obesity without unintentionally increasing weight sigma.

Speakers include:

Dr Paul Chadwick, Associate Professor and Deputy Director, Centre for Behaviour Change, UCL
Clare Murphy, Director of External Affairs at the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) and the Principal Investigator of WRISK
Malcolm Clark, Policy Advisor for Cancer Prevention, Cancer Research UK
Dr Sarah Jackson, Senior Research Fellow, Research Dept. of Behavioural Science and Health, UCL
Dr Anna Isaacs; Postdoctoral Fellow, Centre for Food Policy, City University London
Dr Simon Russell, Postdoctoral Fellow, Institute of Child Health, UCL
National Child Bureau (NCB) Young Research advisors
More to come….

There will be a drinks and networking reception from 17:00-18:00 in the ICH Winter Garden.

ASO London Network and the Adult COMs Network meeting

The ASO hosted an inaugural meeting of the London Network together with the launch of the Adult COMs Network in London on December 2nd, 2015 at the University of Liverpool London Campus.

The meeting was attended by 40 delegates including clinicians, researchers and policy-makers. The meeting topic came about after a provocative recent publication (Fildes et al; Am J Public Health: 105: e54-9) highlighted the low probability of an obese adult losing weight, and the difficulties in maintaining even small amounts of weight loss. This sparked discussion among the London ASO Regional Group Committee about the ineffectiveness of current weight loss interventions, and the need for new approaches. The focus of the first meeting was therefore ‘novel approaches to behaviour change in obesity’.

The speakers covered a range of topics from management of obesity in primary care, to novel interventions for the prevention and management of obesity at the individual level, to the potential for policy changes to effect weight at a population level. The ASO Chair, Professor Pinki Sahota also launched the ASO Adult COMs network with the aim of strengthening and advancing the evidence base, improving practice and influencing policy for the management of obesity in adults within the UK.

Details of the presentations and speakers can be found in the programme. The slides from each of the talks can be viewed below.

The London Network committee were delighted with the level of interest in the talks, and the interactive discussion that the meeting promoted. We encourage delegates to contact us (Dr Clare Llewellyn; c.llewellyn@ucl.ac.uk) with ideas for future meetings or training days.

Speaker Presentations

ASO Adult COM's Launch - Professor Pinki Sahota

Management of obesity in primary care - Dr Helen Booth

The role of habit formation in weight management - Dr Benjamin Gardener

Taxing sugar-sweetened beverages - Malcolm Clark