Cities Research Team

I joined Newcastle University in 2023 as a NUAcT Fellow in Cities and Place. I am a member of the Public Health and Health Inequalities theme within the Population Health Sciences Institute. Prior to this I worked at the University of Oxford as a Senior Researcher co-developing interventions to improve the wider determinants of diet. I have also previously worked in cardiovascular epidemiology where I developed expertise in collating and analysing data in national-level surveys and routine data.

My research interests are in using mixed-methods to develop the evidence base on how to shape healthy and equitable urban spaces.

Qualifications:

• DPhil Public Health, University of Oxford 2015. I used mixed methods to explore intergenerational differences in the physical activity of UK South Asian populations.
• Masters in Public Health, Imperial College London 2008
• BA (Hons) Archaeology and Anthropology (Specialised in Biological Anthropology) , University of Cambridge 2003

The overall aim of my research is to understand how we can shape our urban environments to equitably support health and wellbeing. I co-develop innovative interventions with local authorities and carry out research to better understand the processes of implementing urban interventions that promote physical activity and diet. I have recently completed a project in Newham, London where we co-developed an intervention to improve the diversity of food businesses opening in Newham.

Research interests

• Improving health inequalities
• Shaping urban spaces to equitably support health and wellbeing
• Understanding and intervening on the wider determinants of obesity in cities, particularly local economic development and environmental sustainability
• Developing and evaluating innovative interventions and local-level policies

Research approaches

• Qualitative research
• Analysis of existing datasets
• Co-production approaches
• Systems approaches

Full list of publications on Google Scholar

• Articles

  • Bhatnagar P, Whiting S, Wickramasinghe K. Recommendations for developing urban interventions to promote physical activity: interviews with key informants in Europe. Cities & Health 2023, 7(6), 1002-1011.
  • Bhatnagar P, Foster C, Shaw A. Barriers and facilitators to physical activity in second-generation British Indian women: A qualitative study. PLoS ONE 2021, 16(11), e0259248.
  • Bhatnagar P, Scarborough P, Kaur A, Dikmen D, Adhikari V, Harrington R. Are food and drink available in online and physical supermarkets the same? A comparison of product availability, price, price promotions and nutritional information. Public Health Nutrition 2021, 24(5), 819-825.
  • Jones BA, Munir F, Harris PS, Bhatnagar P, Stevinson C. Intervention development for exercise promotion at active charity events in the UK. Health Promotion International 2020, 35(6), 1341-1352.