Overview

Overview of Whole System Approaches to Diet and Healthy Weight

Taking a Whole System Approach (WSA) to diet and healthy weight is recognised by Scottish Government as an important component of delivering population health improvements. Between 2019 and 2023 a programme of early adopters was established in Scotland. This has allowed a period of action learning which has been used to determine the advice and support required.

Scottish Government - A healthier future: Scotland's diet and healthy weight delivery plan 

On the following pages we have provided materials and support for local areas in Scotland who are exploring and progressing WSA.  These materials are based on learning from the early adopter phase and are split into three sections.

Introduction to Whole System Approaches - where you can learn the background on the concept and why it is important to diet and healthy weight.

Implementation - here you will find practical step by step guidance alongside useful links and tools.  In this section you will find our Local Levers report.

Leadership - a valuable element of WSA, find out more about why and how to embed it.

We thank the other national partners involved in this project: Scottish Government, Public Health Scotland and Food Standards Scotland for their help and support in developing these resources. This work and these resources were produced with support from Scottish Government. 

We hope you find these resources helpful. If you have any queries about the status of the programme and support for local activities, please contact Scottish Government at dietpolicy@gov.scot