Professor Tim Lobstein is an internationally renowned British Jewish public health expert and currently serves as a Senior Policy Consultant for the World Obesity Federation (formerly its Director of Policy). He holds the titles of Visiting Professor at the University of Sydney, Adjunct Professor at Curtin University, and Honorary Senior Research Fellow at Imperial College London. As a commissioner for The Lancet Commission on Obesity, he co-authored the influential concept of the “Global Syndemic.” He is an alumnus and long-term Associate of the Science Policy Research Unit (SPRU) at the University of Sussex.
Professor Lobstein’s career has profoundly shaped the contemporary global public health agenda:
- Authority on Childhood Obesity: He is a globally recognized expert on adolescent obesity trends. His work on the impact of commercial marketing on children’s dietary habits provided the core evidence for WHO guidelines on restricting the marketing of unhealthy foods.
- Commercial Determinants of Health: His research focuses on how corporate practices influence public health. His authoritative publications on food systems and nutritional inequality have advanced the global discourse on “Food Justice.”
- Global Advocacy: Within the World Obesity Federation, he consults for the United Nations and the World Health Assembly, advocating for structural reforms and fiscal measures, such as sugar taxes, to improve public nutrition.
As a long-standing member of Jewish Voice for Labour, he applies a public health lens to analyze the catastrophic impacts of the Gaza blockade, including severe malnutrition and the collapse of medical infrastructure, framing systemic deprivation as a form of chronic collective harm. Throughout recent crises, he has co-signed global appeals calling for an immediate end to attacks on civilian infrastructure, highlighting the long-term health consequences for Palestinian society.