A policy assessment tool to identify causes of inequities that influence obesity prevalence.

When policy-makers propose health-related initiatives they need to assess the impact on health inequalities, including disparities in diet-related diseases and obesity. Health impact assessments, including health equity assessments, can provide insights into the potential health outcomes, but they are usually based on engagement with stakeholders and beneficiaries and their quality is not easy to evaluate. In this paper, we propose a policy assessment tool designed to ask a set of questions on the impact on health equity of policies and interventions that may be answerable from empirical evidence or from public health principles.

Challenges of social change: The 2021 Republic of Slovenia report card on physical activity of children and adolescents.

Background: Slovenian children are facing considerable health challenges from the rapid social changes that influence their opportunity to engage in daily physical activity.

Objective: To overlay the social changes to the established Report Card model as a means of contextualising the extreme changes in physical activity and fitness observed over several years.

Methods: Benchmarks were graded for 10 core indicators, plus two (Sleep, Seasonal Variations).