This event took place on Tuesday 7 February. You can watch the recording below.

Obesity levels have almost doubled in the past 20 years and we need to act now to improve the health of the nation. Our environments are flooded with products that are high in fat, sugar, salt and calories. We know that to reduce obesity levels, the UK needs to consume less calories. But the level of diet change needed, and the way we achieve it, is less clear.

Two forthcoming research pieces by Nesta shed light on the issue. In a new technical report, our healthy life team uses mathematical modelling to estimate how many calories we need to reduce from our diets to halve the prevalence of obesity. Alongside this, new research by Nesta looks at the role reformulation could play in helping the population consume fewer calories. By changing ingredients, recipes or technologies used in food production, the food industry could make it easier for people to consume fewer calories and lead a healthier life.

To launch our new research, we brought together leading experts across the food industry, policy and advocacy sector to discuss how food reformulation could improve people’s health. We deep dived into our findings, revealed which food categories could show promise for calorie reduction, how much reformulation could contribute to halving current obesity levels and what the main barriers or opportunities to reformulation are for industry and policymakers.

This event was for anybody working towards improving health in the UK, whether you work for a charity, in the food industry, in government, academia or at a research organisation.

The opinions expressed in this event recording are those of the speakers. For more information, view our full statement on external contributors.