Principal Research Associate
Population Health Interventions

Qualifications

PhD, MA, BSc (hons), AFHEA

Background and experience

Thomas was awarded a BSc in Geography (2007), MA in Human Geography Research (2008) and PhD (2012) from Newcastle University. His PhD explored the role of neighbourhood built and food environments in contributing to poor diet, physical inactivity and obesity.

Thomas moved to CEDAR in 2011 to take up a Career Development Fellowship, and is now a Senior Research Associate in the Evaluation of population interventions in dietary public health programme. He submitted expert written (pdf) and oral evidence to the Health and Social Care Committee (2018), to guide their report on childhood obesity (pdf).

Current work and interests

Thomas is primarily interested in the use of novel quantitative methods, especially GIS and spatial statistics, to study neighbourhood food environments and their effects on dietary behaviours, diet, diet-related disease, and inequalities therein, mostly through linking large scientific datasets (e.g. the Fenland Study, UK Biobank) to administrative and routinely collected data. He is currently researching existing applications of the English planning system to create healthier neighbourhoods, and evaluating takeaway food outlet “exclusion zones” around schools as a form of public health intervention for population-level obesity prevention, as well as the emergence and implications of so-called “dark kitchens” in the UK out-of-home food retail sector. Thomas is also interested in the development of online tools for effective knowledge exchange (see Tools), including how tools can be used by those in planning and public health to provide decision-support, and how uptake of tools can be maximised.

Publications

Selected publications

• Rahilly J, Amies-Cull B,…Burgoine T. Changes in the number of new takeaway food outlets associated with adoption of management zones around schools: a natural experimental evaluation in England. SSM – Population Health. 2024;26:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssmph.2024.101646
• Rahilly J, Williams A,…Burgoine T. Changes in the number and outcome of takeaway food outlet planning applications in response to adoption of management zones around schools in England: a time series analysis. Health and Place. 2024;87:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2024.103237
• Huang Y, Burgoine T, Bishop TRP, Adams J. Assessing the healthiness of menus of all out-of-home food outlets and its socioeconomic patterns in Great Britain. Health and Place. 2024;85:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2023.103146
• Keeble M, Adams J,…Burgoine T. Associations between online food outlet access and online food delivery service use amongst adults in the UK: a cross-sectional analysis of linked data. BMC Public Health. 2021;21:https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-021-11953-9
• Keeble M, Adams J, Bishop TRP, Burgoine, T. Socioeconomic inequalities in food outlet access through an online food delivery service in England: a cross-sectional descriptive analysis. Applied Geography. 2021;133:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeog.2021.102498
• Burgoine T, Monsivais P, Sharp SJ, Forouhi NG, Wareham NJ. Independent and combined associations between fast-food outlet exposure and genetic risk for obesity: a population-based, cross-sectional study in the UK. BMC Medicine. 2021;19,49:https://doi.org/10.1186/s12916-021-01902-z
• Keeble M, Burgoine T, White M, Summerbell C, Cummins S, Adams J. How does local government use the planning system to regulate hot food takeaway outlets? A census of current practice in England using document review. Health and Place. 2019;57:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2019.03.010
• Burgoine T, Sarkar C, Webster CJ, Monsivais P. Examining the interaction of fast-food outlet exposure and income on diet and obesity: evidence from 51 361 UK Biobank participants. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity. 2018; 15, 71:doi.org/10.1186/s12966-018-0699-8
• Burgoine T, Forouhi NG, Griffin SJ, Brage S, Wareham NJ, Monsivais P. Does neighborhood fast-food outlet exposure amplify inequalities in diet and obesity? A cross sectional study. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 2016;103:1-8:doi.org/10.3945/ajcn.115.128132.
• Maguire E, Burgoine T, Monsivais P. Area deprivation and the food environment over time: a repeated cross-sectional study on takeaway outlet density and supermarket presence in Norfolk, UK, 1990-2008. Health and Place. 2015;33:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2015.02.012
• Burgoine T, Forouhi NG, Griffin SJ, Wareham NJ, Monsivais P. Associations between exposure to takeaway food outlets, takeaway food consumption, and body weight in Cambridgeshire, UK: population based, cross sectional study. BMJ. 2014;348(7950):1-10:doi.org/10.1136/bmj.g1464.
• Burgoine T, Monsivais P. Characterising food environment exposure at home, at work, and along commuting journeys using data on adults in the UK. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity. 2013;10(85):doi.org/10.1186/1479-5868-10-85.

All publications

• MRC Epidemiology Unit publications on Publications Database
• Google Scholar publications and profile

Tools

Managing takeaways near schools: a toolkit for local authorities

Designed in partnership with local authority staff, this toolkit provides practical steps to support successful implementation of evidence based takeaway management zones in local authorities.

Food environment assessment tool (Feat) www.feat-tool.org.uk

Online, interactive spatial data-visualisation tool for measuring, mapping and monitoring regional and neighbourhood food access across England, including over time.

Professional memberships

• Association for the Study of Obesity (ASO), 2008-11
• RGS/IBG GIScience Research Group (GIScRG), 2010-12
• RGS/IBG Geography of Health Research Group (GHRG), 2010-12

Selected current and previous grants

• National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Public Health Research programme (£122,153.57) “Understanding population exposure to dark retail in the out-of-home and grocery markets in England: measuring their socio-spatial distribution and exploring opportunities for policy intervention”, March 2024 – August 2024.
• National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Public Health Research programme (£1,338,389.67) “Evaluation of planning policy to regulate takeaway food outlets for improved health in England”, April 2021 – September 2024
• NIHR School for Public Health Research (SPHR) (£149,344.17) “Evaluating the use and acceptability of, funding mechanisms and demand for online spatial data visualisation tools for local public health decision-support”, May 2018 – Oct 2019
• NIHR SPHR (£112,016.90) “Exploring the nature and acceptability of local authority actions to restrict proliferation of hot food takeaways in England”, Nov 2017 – Feb 2019