The 2023 United Kingdom Congress on Obesity (UKCO) conference will take place on Thursday 14 and Friday 15 September in Riddel Hall at Queen’s and will bring together more than 200 experts in obesity prevention and management, which includes people with lived experience of obesity.

The conference is organised by the UK Association for the Study Obesity (ASO) and will be hosted at Queen’s by the ASO Northern Ireland Network Lead, Dr Laura McGowan.

Dr McGowan is a Lecturer in Nutrition and Behaviour Change at Queen's University and an expert in behavior change interventions to prevent and manage obesity, at different stages across the life course.

At the conference, Dr McGowan will present research evidence to make the case for obesity services in Northern Ireland, which are currently significantly under-resourced. This evidence will highlight that globally, 1 in 5 adults are expected to have obesity by 2025 (already more than 1 in 4 adults in NI), and this has important implications for health and wellbeing.

Obesity is strongly related to the development of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and a higher risk of CVD death. It is also associated with increased cancer risk and recent evidence shows that for those with complex obesity who do not receive bariatric surgery, their health worsens, and healthcare costs rise over subsequent years.

Dr McGowan’s research is conducted with women who enter pregnancy at a higher weight across Ireland (North and South) – the HHIPBe study (Healthy Habits in Pregnancy and Beyond). This study will be presented by Dr Clare Kelly, a Postdoctoral Researcher at Queen’s University at the conference.

Dr Laura McGowan, Lecturer in Nutrition and Behaviour Change from the Institute for Global Food Security and the Centre for Public Health at Queen’s University Belfast, explains: “This research aims to support women with overweight and obesity to carry out a range of healthy diet and physical activity behaviours during pregnancy and beyond, that they can try and make habitual.

“The study was designed in collaboration with women who have experience of overweight or obesity in pregnancy, which was really important to us, to make sure it was sensitive and supportive, rather than promoting any personal blame or perpetuating weight stigma.

"The idea is to help women manage their weight gain during pregnancy by establishing healthy ‘habitual behaviours’. ‘Habits’ can be really helpful, as once established, they rely less on our willpower and motivation, and can become automatically cued when we encounter an associated trigger or cue.”

The conference will also feature research from international experts, including several Queen’s academics; Ms Emma Cassinelli, PhD student, who will discuss preconception (pre-pregnancy) health behaviours (specifically folic acid supplementation, important for prevention of neural tube defects in babies) among women with overweight and obesity in Northern Ireland, highlighting key areas of risk; Professor Michelle McKinley, Professor of Nutrition, on how to support weight management in the postpartum period for new mothers; and Dr Niamh O'Kane, Research Fellow, who will consider factors that drive food choice in secondary schools.

The UKCO aims to advocate the role of patient (or ‘personal’) and public involvement (PPI) in obesity research and there will be a dedicated keynote session led by members of the public who will provide insight into their lived experience of obesity.

Susie Birney (Irish Coalition for People Living with Obesity - ICPO) will introduce ICPO and then pass over to the lived experience perspective (Fiona Quigley and James Fullan), alongside an engaging Q&A session facilitated by Vicki Mooney (European Coalition for People Living with Obesity - ECPO).

Welcoming the conference to Queen’s, Dr McGowan comments: “I am delighted that Queen’s, as a leading university in the field of nutrition and public health, will host this year’s UKCO conference.

“We are looking forward to hearing from our 200+ speakers and delegates who will present their exciting new research in the field of obesity and welcome the opportunity to listen, learn and make connections, particularly with those who will share their lived experience of obesity.”

More information on the conference can be found at https://aso.org.uk/ukco/programme

Media

Media inquiries to Sian Devlin at s.devlin@qub.ac.uk