Academic Biography

Claire O’Malley is a research associate and is currently working on a number of public health related projects which aim to explore the obesogenic environment. Claire has a degree in Nutrition and Health Science, and an MSc in Health Science (Public Health) from Teesside University. Following on from this she went onto study for a PhD at Durham University titled “Determinants of fruit and vegetable consumption in pre-school children”.   

Claire is currently managing the day to day running of a 2 year NIHR ARC funded project which aims to explore how social supermarkets can shape access and availability to healthier foods in food insecure communities. She also holds an honorary contract with The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (formerly Public Health England) and has recently been involved in two projects; one looking at the impact of Covid-19 on the planning system and food environment and another developing a continuing professional development package for local authority planning and public health teams to help implement PHE’s ‘healthy weight environments’. She is also involved in several obesity-related systematic reviews and collaborates with colleagues on various public health related projects.

Summary of Research Interests

Claire’s research interests lie within the areas of: public health, obesogenic environments, health policy, behaviour change and mental health and wellbeing. She is particularly keen on the use of mixed methods to synthesise and evaluate evidence to improve health.

Research Projects and External Funding

NIHR ARC Community Social Supermarkets: understanding how they shape access and availability to healthier foods in food insecure communities. Feb 2022 - Jan 2023. £59,216. Principal Investigator

NIHR SPHR Understanding Barriers and Facilitators to Implementing Regulatory Mechanisms. Jan 2020 – Jan 2021. £85,000. Co-investigator

Recent Publications

Moore, H.J., Lake, A.A., O’Malley, C.L., Bradford, C., Gray, N., Chang, M., Matthews, C and Townshend, T (2022) The impact of Covid 19 on the hot food takeaway planning regulatory environment: perspectives of Local Authority professionals in the North East of England, Perspectives in Public Health, In Press

Finlay, A., Lloyd, S., Lake, A., Armstrong, T., Fishpool, M., Green, M., Moore, H., O’Malley, C. and Boyland, E (2022) An analysis of food and beverage advertising on bus shelters in a deprived area of Northern England. Public health nutrition, pp.1-31.

Azevedo, L.B., Stephenson, J., Ells, L., Adu‐Ntiamoah, S., DeSmet, A., Giles, E.L., Haste, A., O'Malley, C., Jones, D., Chai, L.K. and Burrows, T (2022) The effectiveness of e‐health interventions for the treatment of overweight or obesity in children and adolescents: A systematic review and meta‐analysis. Obesity Reviews, 23(2), p.e13373.

Rose K, O’Malley C, Brown L, Ells LJ, Lake AA (2021) ‘Pizza every day – Why?’: A survey to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 2 guidelines on secondary school food provision in the UK. Nutrition Bulletin 46, 2: 160-171.

Rose K, O’Malley C, Eskandari F, Lake A.A, Ells LJ (2021) The impact of, and views on, school food intervention and policy in young people aged 11-18 years in Europe: A mixed methods systematic review. Obesity Reviews, May;22(5):e13186. doi: 10.1111/obr.13186. Epub 2021 Jan 13. PMID: 33442954.

O’Malley, C.L., Lake, A.A., Townshend, T.G. and Moore, H.J (2021) Exploring the fast food and planning appeals system in England and Wales: decisions made by the Planning Inspectorate (PINS). Perspectives in Public Health, 141(5), pp.269-278.