Invited talk: Healthy Food Environments: Navigating, synthesising and communicating the quagmire of evidence to inform policy-making

Obesity prevalence is inequitably distributed across geographic areas. Food environments may contribute to health disparities, yet little is known about how food environments are evolving over time and how this may influence dietary intake and weight. This study aimed to analyse intra-city variation in density and healthiness of food outlets between 2008 and 2016 in Melbourne, Australia. Food outlet data were classified by location, type and healthiness. Local government areas (LGAs) were classified into four groups representing distance from the central business district. Residential population estimates for each LGA were used to calculate the density of food outlets per 10,000 residents. Linear mixed models were fitted to estimate the mean density and ratio of ‘healthy’ to ‘unhealthy’ food outlets and food outlet ‘types’ by LGA group over time. The number of food outlets increased at a faster rate than the residential population, driven by an increasing density of both ‘unhealthy’ and ‘healthy’ outlets. Across all years, ratios of ‘unhealthy’ to ‘healthy’ outlets were highest in LGAs located in designated Growth Areas. Melbourne’s metropolitan food environment is saturated by ‘unhealthy’ and ‘less healthy’ food outlets, relative to ‘healthy’ ones. Melbourne’s urban growth areas had the least healthy food environments.

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Are campus food environments healthy? A novel perspective for qualitatively evaluating the nutritional quality of food sold at foodservice facilities at a Brazilian university

Perspectives in Public Health ◽

10.1177/1757913916636414 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 137 (2) ◽

pp. 122-135 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Isadora Santos Pulz ◽

Paula Andréa Martins ◽

Charles Feldman ◽

Marcela Boro Veiros

Keyword(s):

Food Environment ◽

Nutritional Quality ◽

Food Choices ◽

Healthy Food ◽

Food Environments ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Food Ingredients ◽

Nutrition Environment ◽

Food And Beverage

Aims: The purpose of this novel study was to evaluate the food environment at a Brazilian university, encompassing 6 restaurants and 13 snack bars. The investigation uniquely analyses the food environment (barriers, facilitators, type of foods and prices). This was a food-based analysis of the nutritional quality of the products sold on campus. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive design was used, applying the classic Nutrition Environment Measures Survey–Restaurants (NEMS-R) adapted for Brazil and an original methodology to evaluate and classify qualitatively the nutritional quality and characteristics of the food. A census of all campus food environments was applied. Results: The main results show most food and beverage products were made with processed ingredients and had a lower nutritional quality and price when compared with similar products made on premises, that is, processed iced tea compared with fresh tea ( p < .001), fried refined flour salgados compared with baked wholegrain flour salgados ( p < .001) and refined flour biscuits compared with those made with whole grains ( p = .028). Only 16% of the outlets provided food ingredients or nutritional information of products available. Conclusion: The overall options for healthy food choices and good nutritional quality on campus were mostly limited by the availability and higher prices of products. These findings could be used to develop new policy perspectives for the offering of healthy food items and to facilitate better food choices among students in a healthier food environment.

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Meaning as Motivator to Address Distancing in the Food System

Canadian Food Studies / La Revue canadienne des études sur l alimentation ◽

10.15353/cfs-rcea.v8i2.442 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 8 (2) ◽

Author(s):

Karen Rideout

Keyword(s):

Human Health ◽

Meaning In Life ◽

Food System ◽

Participant Observation ◽

Intrinsic Value ◽

Healthy Food ◽

Food Environments ◽

Production And Consumption ◽

Full Knowledge ◽

Meaningful Relationships

Distancing in the food system prevents people from having full knowledge and making informed choices about what and how they produce, exchange, prepare, and eat food. This becomes problematic when the dominant industrial food system contributes to myriad negative human health, ecological, and social outcomes. This paper reports on findings from a study that aimed to better understand distancing from the perspectives of people engaged in resisting it, focusing on their motivations for action to inform policy approaches to improve food system health. The research, conducted in India and Canada, comprised participant observation with organizations working to connect the production and consumption of food, as well as interviews with activists, consumers, and farmers involved with those organizations. These food system actors were motivated primarily by a conviction that food is important, which was illustrated by meaningful relationships built and maintained through food, by soulful connections with food, and by a sense that everything – including food – is interconnected. The findings identify connection around food as a source of meaning in life. From meaning comes awareness of broader issues, a sense of value and care, and ultimately motivation for action or change. This could have implications for healthy food system governance if frameworks such as determinants of health and healthy food environments are used to inform healthy public policies that cultivate a sense of meaning and awareness of the intrinsic value embedded in food.

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Understanding healthy food environments in public health practice

Environmental Health Review ◽

10.5864/d2017-029 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 60 (4) ◽

pp. 88-92

Author(s):

Ellen Gregg ◽

Tina Chen

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Public Health Practice ◽

Healthy Food ◽

Food Environments ◽

Health Practice

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A review of methods and tools to assess the implementation of government policies to create healthy food environments for preventing obesity and diet-related non-communicable diseases

Implementation Science ◽

10.1186/s13012-016-0379-5 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Sirinya Phulkerd ◽

Mark Lawrence ◽

Stefanie Vandevijvere ◽

Gary Sacks ◽

Anthony Worsley ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Communicable Diseases ◽

Healthy Food ◽

Government Policies ◽

Food Environments ◽

Non Communicable Diseases

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Parents’ and Teachers’ Views of Food Environments and Policies in Indian Private Secondary Schools

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph15071532 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 15 (7) ◽

pp. 1532 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Neha Rathi ◽

Lynn Riddell ◽

Anthony Worsley

Keyword(s):

Secondary Schools ◽

Healthy Food ◽

Future Research ◽

Food Environments ◽

Cross Sectional Survey ◽

School Food ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Effective School ◽

School Canteen ◽

Food Policies

School food environments and policies can play a pivotal role in inculcating healthy food habits among young people. This cross-sectional survey explored teachers’ and parents’ views of the role of school food environments and policies in promoting healthy food consumption among Indian adolescents. Thirty-two teachers and 280 parents from five private, English-speaking, secondary schools in Kolkata, India took part in a short questionnaire survey which included closed and open answer questions. Descriptive and chi-square analyses were performed to compare the responses of parents and teachers. Thematic data analysis underpinned by Template Analysis Technique was employed to examine the qualitative responses. The easy availability and accessibility of energy-dense, nutrient-poor foods, the limited availability of nutritious foods, the absence of written food policies, and inflated prices of nutritious foods were reported as problems in the Indian school food environment. However, the respondents also noted that schools restricted the sale of sugar-sweetened beverages and adopted hygienic food practices. Novel ideas for creating healthy school food environments and effective school canteen policies were also captured during the survey. These findings point to the need to create effective school food policies in Indian secondary schools to help adolescents eat healthily at school. Future research is required to test the feasibility of the implementation of school food policies.

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