Policy interventions to promote healthy eating: a review of what works, what does not, and what is promising

TY - JOUR

T1 - Policy interventions to promote healthy eating

T2 - a review of what works, what does not, and what is promising

AU - Brambila-Macias, Jose

AU - Shankar, Bhavani

AU - Capacci, Sara

AU - Mazzocchi, Mario

AU - Perez Cueto Eulert, Federico Jose A

AU - Verbeke, Wim

AU - Traill, W Bruce

PY - 2011/12

Y1 - 2011/12

N2 - Unhealthy diets can lead to various diseases, which in turn can translate into a bigger burden for the state in the form of health services and lost production. Obesity alone has enormous costs and claims thousands of lives every year. Although diet quality in the European Union has improved across countries, it still falls well short of conformity with the World Health Organization dietary guidelines. In this review, we classify types of policy interventions addressing healthy eating and identify through a literature review what specific policy interventions are better suited to improve diets. Policy interventions are classified into two broad categories: information measures and measures targeting the market environment. Using this classification, we summarize a number of previous systematic reviews, academic papers, and institutional reports and draw some conclusions about their effectiveness. Of the information measures, policy interventions aimed at reducing or banning unhealthy food advertisements generally have had a weak positive effect on improving diets, while public information campaigns have been successful in raising awareness of unhealthy eating but have failed to translate the message into action. Nutritional labeling allows for informed choice. However, informed choice is not necessarily healthier; knowing or being able to read and interpret nutritional labeling on food purchased does not necessarily result in consumption of healthier foods. Interventions targeting the market environment, such as fiscal measures and nutrient, food, and diet standards, are rarer and generally more effective, though more intrusive. Overall, we conclude that measures to support informed choice have a mixed and limited record of success. On the other hand, measures to target the market environment are more intrusive but may be more effective.

AB - Unhealthy diets can lead to various diseases, which in turn can translate into a bigger burden for the state in the form of health services and lost production. Obesity alone has enormous costs and claims thousands of lives every year. Although diet quality in the European Union has improved across countries, it still falls well short of conformity with the World Health Organization dietary guidelines. In this review, we classify types of policy interventions addressing healthy eating and identify through a literature review what specific policy interventions are better suited to improve diets. Policy interventions are classified into two broad categories: information measures and measures targeting the market environment. Using this classification, we summarize a number of previous systematic reviews, academic papers, and institutional reports and draw some conclusions about their effectiveness. Of the information measures, policy interventions aimed at reducing or banning unhealthy food advertisements generally have had a weak positive effect on improving diets, while public information campaigns have been successful in raising awareness of unhealthy eating but have failed to translate the message into action. Nutritional labeling allows for informed choice. However, informed choice is not necessarily healthier; knowing or being able to read and interpret nutritional labeling on food purchased does not necessarily result in consumption of healthier foods. Interventions targeting the market environment, such as fiscal measures and nutrient, food, and diet standards, are rarer and generally more effective, though more intrusive. Overall, we conclude that measures to support informed choice have a mixed and limited record of success. On the other hand, measures to target the market environment are more intrusive but may be more effective.

KW - Adult

KW - Beverages

KW - Child

KW - Choice Behavior

KW - Diet

KW - European Union

KW - Evidence-Based Practice

KW - Food

KW - Food Labeling

KW - Food Services

KW - Health Promotion

KW - Humans

KW - Nutrition Policy

KW - Nutritional Sciences

KW - Patient Education as Topic

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 22590970

SN - 0379-5721

VL - 32

SP - 365

EP - 375

JO - Food and Nutrition Bulletin

JF - Food and Nutrition Bulletin

IS - 4

ER -