Objectives: Go-Golborne is a pilot intervention to prevent childhood obesity in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea between 2014 and 2018. It is a multi-strategy approach targeting children aged 0-16 years and their families in all settings where children live, learn and play. This paper describes the methodology and the practical steps in the development of Go-Golborne.


Study design: The programme uses a quasi-experimental design for the evaluation of changes in weight status using data from the extended National Child Measurement Programme across local schools. For specific behavioural change objectives, baseline self-reported lifestyle measures will be compared against annual follow-up data over the 3-year study period. Qualitative methods will be used to explore the perceptions of stakeholders and participants and organizational change.

Methods: Go-Golborne aims to mobilize everyone in the community who has a role or interest in shaping the local environment, norms and behaviors across a range of sectors. A community network of local organisations has been established to co-design all programme activities. A Steering Group of Council officers supports programme implementation and environmental changes. The programme has identified six specific behavior change objectives representing the key areas of need in Golborne and all activities in the council and the community target these objectives during specific programme phases. Key components include community capacity building, community-wide social marketing, environment and policy change and evaluation.


Results (Progress): The programme is currently at the beginning of its implementation phase with activities in the community and council targeting the first behavior change objective.

Conclusions: The pilot aims to test the effectiveness of this approach to support behavior change and prevent unhealthy weight gain in children using multiple strategies. This programme will inform the development of an intervention model that defines essential programme components, accountability of partner organisations delivering obesity prevention programmes and the effective use of existing assets.