Developing capacity in identifying cost-effective interventions to prevent and reduce obesity in China

Obesity is associated with multiple noncommunicable diseases and has increased rapidly worldwide. Population obesity in China grew fourfold between 1993 and 2015, increasing most rapidly among children and adolescents. Cost-effective policies and programs delivered over time and at scale are require...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Angela M. Jackson-Morris, Suying Chang, Christina L. Meyer, Guansheng Ma
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2025-12-01
Series:Global Health Action
Subjects:
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/16549716.2025.2463794
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850273388650561536
author Angela M. Jackson-Morris
Suying Chang
Christina L. Meyer
Guansheng Ma
author_facet Angela M. Jackson-Morris
Suying Chang
Christina L. Meyer
Guansheng Ma
author_sort Angela M. Jackson-Morris
collection DOAJ
description Obesity is associated with multiple noncommunicable diseases and has increased rapidly worldwide. Population obesity in China grew fourfold between 1993 and 2015, increasing most rapidly among children and adolescents. Cost-effective policies and programs delivered over time and at scale are required to change this trajectory, yet application of methodologies to identify such interventions have been sparse. UNICEF China and Peking University together identified the need to strengthen the intervention evidence available to policymakers and to build stakeholders’ knowledge and skills. Investment cases combine a review of intervention evidence, policy landscape assessment, and economic modelling to identify cost-effective interventions suited to a specific context. A training and mentorship program aimed to build awareness, knowledge, and skills about this methodology to encourage its use to support decision making and planning to address obesity. Program participants reported increased knowledge of analytical methods to identify contextually relevant cost-effective obesity interventions (92% of evaluation respondents), and 82% reported increased knowledge of evidence-based obesity interventions. 79% reported confidence to apply the learning in their job roles. Training and mentorship can enhance stakeholder knowledge, skills, and confidence to apply investment case methodology to develop economic evidence to strengthen the basis of obesity policy and program commissioning.
format Article
id doaj-art-a3a1b5dc1cbc43a885f83a3e17ff49e1
institution OA Journals
issn 1654-9880
language English
publishDate 2025-12-01
publisher Taylor & Francis Group
record_format Article
series Global Health Action
spelling doaj-art-a3a1b5dc1cbc43a885f83a3e17ff49e12025-08-20T01:51:30ZengTaylor & Francis GroupGlobal Health Action1654-98802025-12-0118110.1080/16549716.2025.24637942463794Developing capacity in identifying cost-effective interventions to prevent and reduce obesity in ChinaAngela M. Jackson-Morris0Suying Chang1Christina L. Meyer2Guansheng Ma3RTI InternationalThe United Nations Fund for Children (UNICEF)RTI InternationalPeking UniversityObesity is associated with multiple noncommunicable diseases and has increased rapidly worldwide. Population obesity in China grew fourfold between 1993 and 2015, increasing most rapidly among children and adolescents. Cost-effective policies and programs delivered over time and at scale are required to change this trajectory, yet application of methodologies to identify such interventions have been sparse. UNICEF China and Peking University together identified the need to strengthen the intervention evidence available to policymakers and to build stakeholders’ knowledge and skills. Investment cases combine a review of intervention evidence, policy landscape assessment, and economic modelling to identify cost-effective interventions suited to a specific context. A training and mentorship program aimed to build awareness, knowledge, and skills about this methodology to encourage its use to support decision making and planning to address obesity. Program participants reported increased knowledge of analytical methods to identify contextually relevant cost-effective obesity interventions (92% of evaluation respondents), and 82% reported increased knowledge of evidence-based obesity interventions. 79% reported confidence to apply the learning in their job roles. Training and mentorship can enhance stakeholder knowledge, skills, and confidence to apply investment case methodology to develop economic evidence to strengthen the basis of obesity policy and program commissioning.http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/16549716.2025.2463794capacity buildinghealth planningnoncommunicable diseaseschild obesityadolescent obesityhealth economicspolicy makingglobal healthinvestment casemiddle-income countries
spellingShingle Angela M. Jackson-Morris
Suying Chang
Christina L. Meyer
Guansheng Ma
Developing capacity in identifying cost-effective interventions to prevent and reduce obesity in China
Global Health Action
capacity building
health planning
noncommunicable diseases
child obesity
adolescent obesity
health economics
policy making
global health
investment case
middle-income countries
title Developing capacity in identifying cost-effective interventions to prevent and reduce obesity in China
title_full Developing capacity in identifying cost-effective interventions to prevent and reduce obesity in China
title_fullStr Developing capacity in identifying cost-effective interventions to prevent and reduce obesity in China
title_full_unstemmed Developing capacity in identifying cost-effective interventions to prevent and reduce obesity in China
title_short Developing capacity in identifying cost-effective interventions to prevent and reduce obesity in China
title_sort developing capacity in identifying cost effective interventions to prevent and reduce obesity in china
topic capacity building
health planning
noncommunicable diseases
child obesity
adolescent obesity
health economics
policy making
global health
investment case
middle-income countries
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/16549716.2025.2463794
work_keys_str_mv AT angelamjacksonmorris developingcapacityinidentifyingcosteffectiveinterventionstopreventandreduceobesityinchina
AT suyingchang developingcapacityinidentifyingcosteffectiveinterventionstopreventandreduceobesityinchina
AT christinalmeyer developingcapacityinidentifyingcosteffectiveinterventionstopreventandreduceobesityinchina
AT guanshengma developingcapacityinidentifyingcosteffectiveinterventionstopreventandreduceobesityinchina