- The document discusses public opinions on the responsibility of individuals versus governments for public health issues. It finds that people are split on government involvement, with 39% thinking it is the government's responsibility to encourage healthy lifestyles and 32% thinking the government should not interfere. - Compared to other countries, Britons face less of a challenge accepting government intervention in public health. Local council intervention is also seen as a responsibility by 36% of people. - Messaging around public health issues needs to be framed carefully, as factual communications receive less support than those focusing on children's health or protection from industry influence. Nudge interventions are more acceptable than bans.

1. © Ipsos MORI / King’s College London
Public Health: An individual’s or
the government’s responsibility?
Louise Park
Head of Public Health at Ipsos MORI
#KingsIpsosMORI

2. © Ipsos MORI / King’s College London
We are split on government involvement
39% 32%
Which comes closest to your own opinion…
Source: Ipsos MORIBase: 1,004 GB adults 16-75 2014
It is the government's responsibility
to influence people's behaviour to
encourage healthy lifestyles
The government should not
get involved with interfering
in people's lifestyles
GB

3. © Ipsos MORI / King’s College London
… but face less of a challenge than elsewhere
52%
48%
47%
46%
45%
41%
40%
39%
39%
36%
34%
32%
30%
29%
27%
26%
24%
12%
20%
14%
29%
31%
28%
32%
28%
27%
32%
30%
36%
36%
36%
35%
37%
39%
40%
63%
Which comes closest to your own opinion…
Source: Ipsos MORI/ Global Trends SurveyBase: c.500 - 1,000 adults 15+ in each country (1,004 aged 16-75 in GB), 2013/14
It is the government's responsibility to
influence people's behaviour to
encourage healthy lifestyles
The government should not
get involved with interfering
in people's lifestyles
South Korea
Argentina
India
Spain
Italy
Brazil
Germany
Poland
South Africa
Sweden
Belgium
Japan
Australia
France
Canada
Russia
The USA
GB

4. © Ipsos MORI / King’s College London
What about local council intervention?
Source: Ipsos MORIBase: government 1,004, council 1,006, GB adults 16-75, 2014
It is the responsibility of … to influence people's behaviour to encourage
healthy lifestyles
Government
39%
Local councils
36%

5. © Ipsos MORI / King’s College London
How can we get the public to own
public health?

6. © Ipsos MORI / King’s College London
19%
8%
22%
12%
38%
17%
16%
1%
36%
10%
Which of the following, if any, are the 3-4 biggest threats to the <health of the British population/
your health>? (Prompted) Top 10 mention shown
54%
43%
41%
38%
37%
35%
29%
20%
18%
18%
Threats to health of
British population
Threats to your health
We see threats to our health differently…
Base: 2,010 GB adults 16-75, 2014 Source: Ipsos MORI
Obesity/ overeating
Alcohol
Poor diet
Smoking
Lack of exercise
Cancer
Heart disease
Drugs abuse
Stress
Diabetes

7. © Ipsos MORI / King’s College London
Misperceptions need to be challenged
Are classified as
overweight
(BMI of 25+)
Think they are
overweight
Think they are
unhealthy
59%
40%
22%
Base: 2,001 UK adults 16+, 2011. Source: Ipsos MORI/BUPA

8. © Ipsos MORI / King’s College London
To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement…?
Some claimed desire for improved lifestyles
Source: Ipsos MORIBase: 1,002 I need, 1,008 people in Britain need, GB adults 16-75, 2014
% agree ‘I need
to live a healthier
lifestyle’
% agree ‘People
in Britain need to
live a healthier
lifestyle’

9. © Ipsos MORI / King’s College London
49%
37%
21%
21%
20%
13%
9%
5%
5%
Impact of my health on my family
Concern about not living as long as possible
Doctor’s advice
A health scare
Seeing family members suffer from a disease
Pressure from family/friends
Something in the media
So what drivers of change can be leveraged?
Which, if any, of the following were the main reasons for making a long term change to your
health? Top 9 mentions
Quality of life
To look better
Base: 1,549 UK adults aged 18+ who made a long-term change to their health

10. © Ipsos MORI / King’s College London
...would you tell me if you generally trust them to tell the truth, or not?
And who is the most trusted messenger?
Base: c.1,000-2,000 Source: Ipsos MORI
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
1983 1993 1997 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2011
Doctors
Teachers
Civil servants
Politicians
Journalists
Ordinary man/woman in the street

11. © Ipsos MORI / King’s College London
How can we increase public
acceptance of government
intervention?

12. © Ipsos MORI / King’s College London
Softer interventions are more acceptable
Base: 1,014 GB adults 16-64, 2010 Source: Ipsos MORI Global @dvisor
92
73
74
45
78
% strongly support/ tend to support
Provide information
Incentives (eg. financial incentive schemes to stop
smoking)
Disincentives (eg. ban smoking in public places)
Establish bans (eg. complete smoking ban)
Companies/organisations (eg. make tobacco
companies invest against smoking)
Now thinking about smoking: What, if anything, do you think government should do?

13. © Ipsos MORI / King’s College London
Though acceptance depends on the behaviour
Base: 1,014 GB adults 16-64, 2010 (smoking), 1,763 UK adults 16-64 2014 (vaccinations) Source: Ipsos MORI
92
73
74
45
78
Smoking Vaccination
Provide information
Incentives (eg. vaccine free to all)
Disincentives (eg. people should pay for treatment
if they become ill and did not get the vaccine)
Establish bans (eg. laws to make vaccine obligatory)
Companies/organisations (eg. employers and
schools should promote the vaccine)
95
89
34
41
81
Imagine a new type of dangerous flu appears and a vaccine is developed to protect people from
getting ill. What, if anything, do you think government should do?
% strongly support/ tend to support

14. © Ipsos MORI / King’s College London
45% agree
“government
should ban
smoking
altogether”
Remember, the public hold inconsistent views!
12%
41% agree
“government
should not get
involved in how
people make
decisions about
smoking”
Base: 1,014 GB adults 16-64, 2010 Source: Ipsos MORI Global @dvisor

15. © Ipsos MORI / King’s College London
And remember acceptability shifts
TIME
PUBLICSUPPORT
Goodwin P. (2006) Cycle of Public Acceptability
Build-up of support
as benefits appear
Fall-off as detail
emerges
Sufficient support to go
ahead
Increasing support
for general idea
New idea, no
justification
Panic just before
implementation

16. © Ipsos MORI / King’s College London
76
73
71
70
49
49
83
% Strongly/somewhat support
Nudges are acceptable as long as they don’t cost the
public
Thinking about influencing people to eat more healthily, what, if anything, do you think
government should do?
Source: Ipsos MORIBase: 2,010 GB adults 16-75, 2014
Food producers should reduce the amount of salt/sugar put in food
Supermarkets should remove sweets/chocolate from their check-outs
Cafes/restaurants should print info on calories on their menu
Public money from taxes should be used to provide free fruit in schools
TV ads for junk food should not be shown before 9pm
Cafes/restaurants should add salad/ veg as a standard side dish,
though this may increase costs
Supermarkets should not offer deals on sweets and chocolate

17. © Ipsos MORI / King’s College London
What is the effect of message framing?
Base: government norm 502, protection of children 502, protection from industry 505, obesity facts 501, GB adults 16-75, 2014 Source: Ipsos MORI
% strongly support/ tend to support ‘the government should not get involved in what people
choose to eat’
Obesity facts
Around 25% of the British population is obese. Treating obesity… costs the NHS £5
billion/ year. Levels of obesity in Britain will rise to 50% by 2050.
Government norm
Governments around the world… are using a range of approaches
to encourage people to eat more healthily/ reduce obesity levels.
Protection of children
1 in 3 children 10-11 is overweight/ obese... children from poorer households more
likely to be overweight/ obese. Some say government should help families/ children.
<Intro text> Thinking about what people choose to eat, what, if anything, do you think government
should do?
Protection from industry
Junk food manufacturers use advanced advertising and marketing tools…
Some say government should help the public eat more healthily.
47%
51%
49%
47%

18. © Ipsos MORI / King’s College London
Factual communications receive less support
% strongly support/ tend to support ‘the government should provide incentives such as money off vouchers
for healthy foods’
<Intro text> Thinking about what people choose to eat, what, if anything, do you think government
should do?
Base: government norm 502, protection of children 502, protection from industry 505, obesity facts 501, GB adults 16-75, 2014 Source: Ipsos MORI
80%
75%
76%
70%
Obesity facts
Around 25% of the British population is obese. Treating obesity… costs the NHS £5
billion/ year. Levels of obesity in Britain will rise to 50% by 2050.
Government norm
Governments around the world… are using a range of approaches
to encourage people to eat more healthily/ reduce obesity levels.
Protection of children
1 in 3 children 10-11 is overweight/ obese... children from poorer households more
likely to be overweight/ obese. Some say government should help families/ children.
Protection from industry
Junk food manufacturers use advanced advertising and marketing tools…
Some say government should help the public eat more healthily.

19. © Ipsos MORI / King’s College London
Some final thoughts
• Evenly split on government intervention – are the public aware of councils’ public
health responsibilities?
• Misperceptions need challenging – but we should recognise the limitations of facts
alone
• Should we be talking about stress not obesity?
• Public acceptability falls as more freedoms are lost
• Acceptability just one factor – do the public recognise the scale of the problem?
Do they believe in the effectiveness of the intervention?
• Nudge interventions are fairly welcome (if they don’t hit our purses)
• Do we need more emotive messaging?

20. © Ipsos MORI / King’s College London
Thank you
Louise.park@ipsos.com | 020 7347 3315
© Ipsos MORI This work was carried out in accordance with the requirements of the international quality standard for market research, ISO 20252:2006 and with the Ipsos MORI Terms and Conditions which can be found here
#KingsIpsosMORI