Abstract for: Lessons from building an applied policy model to reduce childhood overweight and obesity (2016-2021)

A model of childhood overweight and obesity prevalence was built in response to the New South Wales (Australia) Government priority target to reduce childhood overweight and obesity by five per cent by 2025. This model was presented at an earlier conference in 2017 and demonstrated how it could assist decision makers implement interventions and strategies to achieve this target. Since that time the original government policy partner has used this model to explore policy options and subsequently request model intervention additions, mechanism expansions and data updates to facilitate its ongoing use as a policy-relevant tool. This presentation outlines some of this history of the model from the modelling team’s perspective to provide a view on how a model’s longevity and suitability in an applied policy setting can be achieved. This presentation discusses some of the engagement and technical challenges in accomplishing these ongoing model renovations and explores the limitations to model extensions.