Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland

• Dr Aoibhin Kelly, Queen’s University Belfast (Email)  http://www.qub.ac.uk/
• Dr Fiona Quigley, Ulster University (Email) https://www.ulster.ac.uk/

 

 

The aim of the Northern Ireland ASO Network is to help establish links between academics, practitioners and policymakers in the North and South of Ireland who have an interest in any aspect of obesity and its health and social consequences, to share good practice, research, policy updates and find common grounds for partnerships and collaborations where appropriate. Through these links, the Northern Ireland Network plans to highlight key obesity issues and facilitate knowledge exchange on the causes and prevention of obesity, and to promote action through research translation to increase impact.

The Northern Ireland Network intends to hold two meetings annually, bringing together national and regional perspectives and is open to working in partnership with other organisations with shared interests. Attendance at these meetings is open to anyone with an interest in obesity, and may be of particular interest to researchers, clinicians, health services, local authority, public health, commissioners of obesity services, and academics. Details of any upcoming events will be published on this page.

The Northern Ireland Network is Co-led by Dr Aoibhin Kelly, Research Fellow at Queen’s University Belfast (aoibhin.kelly@qub.ac.uk) and Dr Fiona Quigley, Research Associate at Ulster University (f.quigley@ulster.ac.uk). Please get in touch with any ideas you may have for meetings or events or if you would simply like to get more involved with the Northern Ireland Network – all welcome.

Meetings

There are no meetings currently scheduled.

Past Meetings

(Recordings and details of speakers can be found at the links provided, if not already listed)

Safefood, ASO NI Network & ASO Island of Ireland: The impact of obesity on fertility, pregnancy and beyond, 18^th June 2024 (Dublin and online)

Obesity can have implications across the reproductive life course. This event provided an overview of the impact of living with obesity on fertility, pregnancy, postpartum periods, and child health, covering both maternal and paternal obesity. Speakers shared the lived experience of obesity during this time and explored interventions aimed at promoting maternal, paternal and child health.

(All-island Obesity Action Forum Event)

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Safefood, ASO NI Network & ASO Island of Ireland: Stopping obesity stigma – a priority for all, 15th November 2022 (Dublin)

Overweight and obesity is a highly stigmatised condition with misconceptions of obesity prevalent in society. Experiencing this stigma can have a negative impact on people living with obesity. This event explored what obesity stigma is, the impact experiencing stigma has on people living with obesity and how to address it.  

(All-island Obesity Action Forum Event)

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ASO NI Network, QUB and Division of Health Psychology NI Webinar: Digital Technologies and Weight Management, 19th January 2021 (Online)

This webinar explored the role of digital technologies in weight management. Speakers will provide an overview of ongoing research in this area, including: the use of digital technologies for health communication related to obesity, their use in behaviour change interventions for weight management in a range of population groups, and the benefits and challenges involved in the design and implementation of digital health interventions in this field.

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View the agenda and speaker biographies here

Safefood, ASO NI Network & ASO Island of Ireland: Tackling the marketing of unhealthy food to children, 10^th November 2020 (Online)

This All-island Obesity Action Forum webinar was in association with safefood, and the Associations for the Study of Obesity in Ireland and Northern Ireland. The programme focused on the latest evidence on the impact of the marketing of foods and drinks to children, and areas for action.

(All-island Obesity Action Forum Event)

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Safefood (Co-hosted by ASO): Children’s rights, children’s weight,11th June 2019 (Belfast)

Childhood obesity continues to be a major health issue on the island of Ireland. This event looks at our children’s basic right to health, specifically to the prevention of obesity and its’ lifelong health and wellbeing complications. Obesity continues to be a priority health issue on the island of Ireland. A rights-based approach emphasises our fundamental entitlement to a healthy diet and a health promoting society.

(All-island Obesity Action Forum Event)

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ASO NI Network & Division of Health Psychology NI Joint Symposium: Managing Weight: Understanding weight stigma and best practice for behavioural interventions,11th April 2019 (Belfast)

This event was a half-day symposium which took place during the Northern Ireland British Psychological Society Annual Conference hosted at The Hilton Belfast Templepatrick Golf & Country Club, Templepatrick, NI.

Programme Details:
For the majority of adults in the UK and Ireland, carrying excess weight which may put health at risk in the short- or long-term, is the ‘norm’. Yet, rising levels of weight stigma across all areas of society, and particularly within healthcare, are now understood to be exacerbating the problem. There is a need for a greater understanding of the negative impact of weight stigma upon individuals and society, and simultaneously, there is a need for us as researchers to develop sensitive and theory-based health interventions to support positive lifestyle behaviour change, without blaming the individual. This symposium explored issues of weight stigma including personal accounts from those affected, and highlighted two recent examples of theory-based interventions linking behaviour change processes through from design to evaluation.

Speaker presentations:

• Introduction and Overview Dr Laura McGowan
• ‘My Story’ – Emma McKnight
• Weight Stigma and the psychological cost of toxic shame Bridin McKenna
• Using health psychology theory in the design and evaluation of a complex weight management intervention Dr Dunla Gallagher
• Development and implementation of a behavioural weight management intervention in the postpartum period: “SMS” Supporting Mums Study – from design to outcomes – Caroline McGirr __________________________________________________________________________________

British Obesity and Metabolic Surgery Society and supported by ASO NI Network: Implementing the Clinical Resource Efficiency Support Team (CREST) recommendations, 23rd January 2019 (Belfast)

Obesity remains one of the most important Public Health challenges facing Northern Ireland, with severe obesity (BMI >30) affecting 27% of adults and 9% of children. Sixty four percent of NI adults and 27% of children have a BMI greater than 25 (Health Survey for NI, 2017/18). Excess weight or obesity increases the risk of life-threatening disease, but its costs extend far beyond the health sector, affecting individuals, families, communities, the economy and society as a whole.

In response to this growing health problem an obesity prevention initiative “A Fitter Future For All (2012-2022)” has been implemented in Northern Ireland. In 2005, the Clinical Resource Efficiency Support Team (CREST) published detailed practical guidance on the management of people with obesity in secondary care. One of the main recommendations of this report was the establishment of specialist obesity services for adults and children. This involved setting up adult secondary care obesity management clinics with access to a surgical centre for obesity management.

This symposium (hosted at the Europa Hotel, Belfast) focused on the current provision of obesity services in Northern Ireland, the barriers that have prevented implementation of the CREST recommendations and considered potential solutions.

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Safefood, ASO NI Network & ASO Island of Ireland: Reformulating our obesogenic environment. Can it improve our health? 13th November 2018 (Dublin)

A workshop hosted by the All-island Obesity Action Forum supported by safefood, the Association for the Study of Obesity on the Island of Ireland and the Association for the Study of Obesity (UK) Northern Ireland Network.

The event highlighted how reformulating our obesogenic environments can create positive behaviours to promote a healthy weight. We discussed current reformulation strategies to improve the food environment and explored how our environments can be changed to encourage people to be more physically active.

(All-island Obesity Action Forum Event)

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ASO NI Network Regional Meeting: Weight Management before, during and after pregnancy, 24^th January 2018 (Belfast)

This meeting showcased the latest research and current public health interventions across Northern Ireland relating to obesity and weight management before, during and after pregnancy with an exciting programme of speakers drawn from academia, clinical practice and public health services.

Speaker Presentations

Weight loss after pregnancy: A challenging but opportune time to intervene – Dr Michelle McKinley

Preparing for pregnancy: Do we? – Ben Cairns

Obesity in pregnancy: Obstetric complications and outcomes – Dr Kelly-Ann Eastwood

Midwives’ perceptions and knowledge of maternal obesity – Dr Mary McCann

Pregnancy: a time to sit down and put your feet up? – Dr Sinead Currie

Regional weigh to a Healthy Pregnancy Programme – Michelle Toland

Weight management in the postpartum period: the Supporting MumS (SMS) study – Dr Ciara Rooney

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Safefood, ASO NI Network and ASO Island of Ireland : Stigma in obesity – A public health priority? June 2017

This event involved speakers from across the UK and Ireland covering the latest research and understanding in the area of weight stigma, what it is and what the effects are. Key learnings from the experience of stigma as it relates to mental health informed the discussion. The programme included personal stories of weight stigma and the communication strategies being used to address and combat weight stigma.

(All-island Obesity Action Forum Event)

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Safefood, ASO NI Network and ASO Island of Ireland: The role of appetite in obesity, November 2016 (Dublin)

This was a joint event with Safefood, the ASO Northern Ireland Network and the Association for the Study of Obesity on the Island of Ireland (ASOI).

This workshop focused on the role of appetite in obesity. The event had a fantastic line up of speakers which was of interest to all those in the area of public health and psychology that attended. View a copy of the flyer.  For further details of this event go to Safefood and the All-island Obesity Action Forum.

(All-island Obesity Action Forum Event)