Public health policy, evidence, and causation. Lessons from the studies on obesity

The paper addresses the question of how different types of evidence ought to inform public health policy. By analysing causal studies on obesity, the paper draws lessons about the different roles that different types of evidence play in setting up public health policies. More specif-ically, it is argued that ‘difference-making ’ evidence supports consider-ations about ‘what works for whom in what circumstances’, and that ‘mechanistic evidence ’ provides information about the ‘causal pathways’ to intervene upon.