Accountability for tackling childhood obesity: insights from local councillors in England

Tackling the complex drivers of childhood obesity requires action across sectors and at all levels of government. Elected officials in local government can influence policies targeting communities to prevent childhood obesity, but little is known about their views on local government accountability for tackling the issue. Accountability is the obligation to justify actions on a topic and it could strengthen policy implementation. A qualitative study was conducted involving semi-structured interviews with sixteen Southampton City Council local government councillors. Factors limiting accountability included low citizen engagement, the lack of a national mandate to support local action and unachievable targets. Factors that improved accountability included setting a local mandate, public health officers proactively keeping the issue on the agenda and oversight from other system leaders. The findings from this study inform how public health officers and other stakeholders can work within the local system to progress childhood obesity prevention policies.