Get Cheshire Eating Well Strategy 2026-2031

National policy consistently highlights that poor diet is a major cause of obesity, heart disease, type 2 diabetes and other long term health conditions, and that these health problems affect some communities more than others. The National Food Strategy brought together evidence demonstrating this and framed diet-related ill health as both a public health and equity challenge, concluding that approaches focused on individual behaviour change and voluntary industry action have been insufficient. Instead, it identified the food environment as a key determinant of diet quality and called for sustained population-level intervention to improve diet quality, increase access to healthy food and reduce health inequalities.

More recently, the UK Government's food strategy and wider food policy agenda have reinforced the importance of creating a healthier, more sustainable and resilient food system. This includes improving access to affordable healthy food, supporting local food systems, reducing food insecurity, promoting healthier dietary patterns and strengthening the role of food in improving health, environmental sustainability and economic resilience. These priorities align closely with local ambitions to create food environments that make healthy choices easier, more affordable and more accessible for all residents.

National obesity policy also highlights excess weight as one of the most significant public health challenges and recognises that it affects people in more deprived communities disproportionately. The policy paper on tackling obesity highlights that current food environments promote overconsumption through product formulation, pricing, placement and marketing. This focus on food environments reflects a shift towards making healthy choices easier for everyone, rather than relying solely on individuals to change their behaviour. It recognises that the places where people live, work and shop have a major influence on their diet.

The 10 Year Health Plan for England positions poor diet and obesity as central to the shift from a system focused on treating sickness to one focused on preventing ill health. The plan highlights that people are developing long-term conditions earlier and spending longer in poor health, particularly in more deprived communities where access to affordable, healthy food is constrained. It reinforces the Government's three shifts for health and care reform: a shift from hospital to community, analogue to digital, and sickness to prevention. Within this context, improving diet and reducing obesity are recognised as key prevention priorities.

The 10 Year Health Plan also emphasises the development of neighbourhood health models and community-based services, bringing support closer to where people live. This presents opportunities to integrate healthy eating, food access, weight management and nutrition support within neighbourhood health hubs, primary care, community pharmacies, social prescribing, family support services and wider community settings. This approach recognises that supporting people to eat well requires coordinated action across health, local government, communities and the wider food system.

Finally, government guidance on obesity and food environments helps explain how national trends and challenges affect local communities. It identifies obesity as strongly socially patterned and linked to local food environments, particularly the density of fast-food outlets in deprived areas. It also highlights the impact of weight stigma, noting evidence that people living with overweight or obesity may avoid seeking support or participating in activities because of fear of judgement or discrimination. The guidance emphasises the role of local authorities in shaping healthier environments through a whole-systems approach, including planning, catering standards, procurement and partnership working, underlining the importance of local context in determining dietary risk.

Taken together, this national evidence base establishes a clear rationale for local action in Cheshire West and Chester. It highlights that diet-related ill health is driven by structural factors such as affordability, availability and local food environments, which sit within local authority influence through planning, commissioning, procurement, partnership working and community leadership.

For Cheshire West and Chester, this reinforces the importance of understanding how national policy translates locally, including identifying communities most exposed to unhealthy food environments and experiencing the greatest barriers to healthy eating, while taking advantage of emerging opportunities through prevention-focused and neighbourhood-based models of care.