ABU DHABI, 23rd October, 2026 (WAM) -- Healthy Living, Abu Dhabi’s government-led movement for prevention and wellbeing, the UAE Government’s Behavioral Science Group (BSG) and international research and BIT, part of the innovation foundation Nesta has announced their collaboration to make healthier choices easier across the emirate, supported by the Department of Health – Abu Dhabi (DoH).
Announced at the Abu Dhabi Future Health Summit, the collaboration will combine behavioural science, research and local insight to create healthier food and physical activity environments. The partners also launched their first joint output, Healthy by Design, a whitepaper setting out 17 policy solutions tailored to Abu Dhabi and serving as a case example of how to embed prevention and wellbeing into everyday life.
The collaboration combines BSG’s expertise in applying and testing behavioural science in the UAE context with BIT’s international research and innovation capabilities and Abu Dhabi’s Healthy Living initiatives to support a whole-of-government approach to prevention.
The partnership will focus on three areas: adapting international evidence to Abu Dhabi’s context; designing, testing and supporting the implementation of policies for healthier food and physical activity environments; and exchanging knowledge and building local capabilities.
In supermarkets and their online platforms, the collaboration will support implementation and further learning around Abu Dhabi’s recently announced responsible placement policy in supermarkets, which will reduce the prominence of products high in fat, salt and sugar at store entrances, aisle ends, checkouts and key points in the online shopping journey. Exploration of food delivery platforms will extend the same behavioural approach to the digital environments where people choose and order meals, while work on the built environment will examine how the places where people live and move can make physical activity a more natural part of everyday life.
Co-developed by the three organisations, Healthy by Design translates international evidence into 17 policy solutions for Abu Dhabi: 10 focused on diet and seven on physical activity. Spanning food retail, delivery platforms, schools, workplaces and the built environment, the solutions provide a phased roadmap that builds on established foundations and identifies further opportunities for consideration.
At the heart of the whitepaper is a clear principle: healthier choices depend not only on information and motivation, but also on the environments in which people shop, eat, work and move. It therefore focuses on shaping everyday settings so that healthier options become easier, more visible and more accessible.
Dr Ahmed AlKhazraji, Executive Director of Healthy Living, said: “People often know what is good for their health and want to act on it. Yet there is a gap between intention and behaviour. Closing that gap requires us to understand what gets in the way and change the conditions that shape everyday choices. Research and behavioral science are essential to this work. This collaboration will help us translate evidence into practical interventions, test what works in Abu Dhabi and make healthier choices easier, while preserving people’s freedom to choose.”
Rasha Attar, Director of the BSG at the Office of Development Affairs, said: “Health is shaped by the environments in which we live, work, and make everyday decisions. Behavioral science helps us understand how these environments influence our choices, and how we can redesign them to make healthier living easier. While international evidence provides a valuable starting point, solutions must reflect Abu Dhabi’s unique culture, climate, and ways of living. By working with Healthy Living and Nesta, we are combining global expertise with local insights to design and test practical solutions, strengthen local capabilities, and build evidence of what works for Abu Dhabi residents.”
Ravi Gurumurthy, Group Chief Executive Officer of Nesta and BIT, said: “We know from our work on ways to improve health in the UK that small changes to how food is marketed, promoted and sold can make big differences. By sharing what we have learned with our international partners, we hope that more effective approaches to health can be trialled and rolled out worldwide.”
The whitepaper builds on progress already under way through Healthy Living, including responsible product placement standards across physical and digital supermarkets, responsible food advertising measures, stronger physical activity and nutrition requirements in schools, healthier dining measures, and community programmes that create more opportunities for people to be active. These initiatives are reshaping the everyday environments where people shop, eat, learn and move.