The kids are not alright: Lessons from the advocacy pursuit of restrictions on food marketing

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
L James ◽  
M Arango ◽  
S Lawrence
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Food Industry ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Nutrition Policy ◽  
Food Marketing ◽  
Public Health Nutrition ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Health Community ◽  
Health Progress ◽  
The Government

Abstract Issue Poor nutrition is a leading contributor to ill health worldwide. WHO recommends restrictions on the marketing of unhealthy food to children to reduce intakes of energy-dense, nutrient-poor foods. In Canada, the government made this a mandate commitment. This provides an opportunity for other countries pursuing public health nutrition policy to better understand and overcome commercial interests when trying to advance public health. Background Heart & Stroke Foundation (H&S) advocated for over a decade (2008-2019) to secure government policies to restrict food marketing to youth in Canada. The inclusion of such policy in the government's 2015 mandate was promising and the associated bill was one of the strongest in the world - well received by public health advocates worldwide, positioning Canada as global leader. However, the commercial interests of various stakeholders including food and marketing industries created concerns among policy makers. Public health advocates underestimated the influence, power and opposition of industry. Results In order to counter industry opposition, the public health community worked in coalitions and employed a range of innovative tactics to mitigate policy concerns. This included public engagement on social media, evidence generation, celebrity endorsement, as well as calling out industry practices and political blockers. Despite the innovative and collaborative approach of public health, the policy failed to be adopted. Lessons Food industry will use a range of concerns including economic, environmental, and health issues to generate skepticism among policy makers. Public health advocates working in nutrition need to be proactive and prepared with insightful counter arguments and evidence to dispel myths and re-frame the issue. Key messages Public health progress on nutrition policy is at an early stage and we need to learn lessons from successes and failures. There is a strong amount of food industry opposition to public health nutrition policy.

scholarly journals Nutrition policy in whose interests? A New Zealand case study

2011 ◽  
Vol 15 (8) ◽  
pp. 1483-1488 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabrielle Jenkin ◽  
Louise Signal ◽  
George Thomson
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Food Industry ◽  
Nutrition Policy ◽  
Advertising Industry ◽  
Obesity Epidemic ◽  
Nutrition Policies ◽  
The Government ◽  
Industry Policy

AbstractObjectiveIn the context of the global obesity epidemic, national nutrition policies have come under scrutiny. The present paper examines whose interests – industry or public health – are served by these policies and why.DesignUsing an exemplary case study of submissions to an inquiry into obesity, the research compared the positions of industry and public health groups with that taken by government. We assessed whether the interests were given equal consideration (a pluralist model of influence) or whether the interests of one group were favoured over the other (a neo-pluralist model).Setting2006 New Zealand Inquiry into Obesity.SubjectsFood and advertising industry and public health submitters.ResultsThe Government's position was largely aligned with industry interests in three of four policy domains: the national obesity strategy; food industry policy; and advertising and marketing policies. The exception to this was nutrition policy in schools, where the Government's position was aligned with public health interests. These findings support the neo-pluralist model of interest group influence.ConclusionsThe dominance of the food industry in national nutrition policy needs to be addressed. It is in the interests of the public, industry and the state that government regulates the food and advertising industries and limits the involvement of industry in policy making. Failure to do so will be costly for individuals, in terms of poor health and earlier death, costly to governments in terms of the associated health costs, and costly to both the government and industry due to losses in human productivity.

scholarly journals Ultraprocessed Food: Addictive, Toxic, and Ready for Regulation

Nutrients ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 3401
Author(s):  
Robert H. Lustig
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Food Industry ◽  
Venereal Disease ◽  
Food Category ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
The Public ◽  
Global Pandemic ◽  
Health Community ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Necessary And Sufficient

Past public health crises (e.g., tobacco, alcohol, opioids, cholera, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), lead, pollution, venereal disease, even coronavirus (COVID-19) have been met with interventions targeted both at the individual and all of society. While the healthcare community is very aware that the global pandemic of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) has its origins in our Western ultraprocessed food diet, society has been slow to initiate any interventions other than public education, which has been ineffective, in part due to food industry interference. This article provides the rationale for such public health interventions, by compiling the evidence that added sugar, and by proxy the ultraprocessed food category, meets the four criteria set by the public health community as necessary and sufficient for regulation—abuse, toxicity, ubiquity, and externalities (How does your consumption affect me?). To their credit, some countries have recently heeded this science and have instituted sugar taxation policies to help ameliorate NCDs within their borders. This article also supplies scientific counters to food industry talking points, and sample intervention strategies, in order to guide both scientists and policy makers in instituting further appropriate public health measures to quell this pandemic.

scholarly journals Ultraprocessed Food: Addictive, Toxic, and Ready for Regulation

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert H. Lustig
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Food Industry ◽  
Venereal Disease ◽  
Food Category ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
The Public ◽  
Global Pandemic ◽  
Health Community ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Necessary And Sufficient

Past public health crises (e.g. tobacco, alcohol, opioids, cholera, HIV, lead, pollution, venereal disease, even COVID-19) have been met with interventions targeted both at the individual and all of society. While the healthcare community is very aware that the global pandemic of non-communicable diseases (NCD’s) has its origins in our Western ultraprocessed food diet, society has been slow to initiate any interventions other than public education, which has been ineffective, in part due to food industry interference. This article provides the rationale for such public health interventions, by compiling the evidence that added sugar, and by proxy the ultraprocessed food category, meets the four criteria set by the public health community as necessary and sufficient for regulation — addiction, toxicity, ubiquity, and externalities (how does your consumption affect me?). To its credit, some countries have recently heeded this science and have instituted sugar taxation policies to help ameliorate NCD’s within their borders. This article also supplies scientific counters to food industry talking points, in order to guide both scientists and policy makers in instituting further appropriate public health measures to quell this pandemic.

Should Public Health and Policy Communities Interact With the Food Industry? It Depends on Context Comment on "Towards Preventing and Managing Conflict of Interest in Nutrition Policy? An Analysis of Submissions to a Consultation on a Draft WHO Tool"

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine Cullerton ◽  
Jean Adams ◽  
Martin White
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Conflict Of Interest ◽  
Policy Process ◽  
Food Industry ◽  
Nutrition Policy ◽  
World Health ◽  
Business Goals ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
Intractable Problem ◽  
Policy Communities

The issue of public health and policy communities engaging with food sector companies has long caused tension and debate. Ralston and colleagues’ article ‘Towards Preventing and Managing Conflict of Interest in Nutrition Policy? An Analysis of Submissions to a Consultation on a Draft WHO Tool’ further examines this issue. They found widespread food industry opposition, not just to the details of the World Health Organization (WHO) tool, but to the very idea of it. In this commentary we reflect on this finding and the arguments for and against interacting with the food industry during different stages of the policy process. While involving the food industry in certain aspects of the policy process without favouring their business goals may seem like an intractable problem, we believe there are opportunities for progress that do not compromise our values as public health professionals. We suggest three key steps to making progress.

EXPRESS: The Gift of Data: Industry-Led Food Reformulation and the Obesity Crisis in Europe

2020 ◽  
pp. 074391562098384
Author(s):  
Norah Campbell ◽  
Sarah Browne ◽  
Marius Claudy ◽  
Melissa Mialon ◽  
Hercberg Serge ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Food Industry ◽  
Processed Food ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Intelligence System ◽  
Gift Economy ◽  
Nutrition Policies ◽  
The Gift ◽  
Marketing Intelligence ◽  
The Impact

Ultra-processed food manufacturers have proposed that product reformulation should be a key strategy to tackle obesity. In determining the impact of reformulation on population dietary behaviours, policy makers are often dependant on data provided by these manufacturers. Where such data are “gifted” to regulators there may be an implicit expectation of reciprocity that adversely influences nutrition policies. We sought to assess Europe’s industry-led reformulation strategy in five countries deploying critical policy studies as an approach. We found that interim results on industry-led food reformulation did not meet their targets. Information asymmetries exist between food industry and policy makers: the latter are not privy to marketing intelligence and must instead rely on data that are voluntarily donated by food industry actors. These data represent a distorted snippet of the marketing intelligence system from whence they came. Because these data indeed bear all the hallmarks of a gift, regulatory and public health authorities operate within a gift economy. The implications of this “data gift economy” are strategic delay and goal-setting when the field is not visible. Ultimately, this could diminish the implementation of public health nutrition policies that are contrary to the commercial interests of ultra-processed food producers.

Communicating a Scientific Story

2021 ◽  
pp. 002203452110493
Author(s):  
M. Jacob
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Oral Health ◽  
Scientific Literature ◽  
Early 20Th Century ◽  
Health Organizations ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Health Community ◽  
Public Health Organizations ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Interesting Story

Public health organizations typically try to raise literacy or counter misinformation with fact sheets and other data-centric messages. Yet research shows that disseminating more information does not necessarily combat myths. Storytelling offers the oral health community another option for engaging audiences and complementing the facts. The early–20th century research into fluoride is one example of an interesting story. Data and stories can complement each other. Using the elements of storytelling to report or summarize research findings could make such findings more relevant to health policy makers, whose decisions are often driven by values and evidence. Although the scientific literature has not produced a definitive template for instilling stories in a study manuscript, I provide several techniques and caveats for oral health researchers to consider.

scholarly journals The politics of developing reference standards for nutrient intakes: the case of Australia and New Zealand

2009 ◽  
Vol 12 (9) ◽  
pp. 1531-1539 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shanthi Thuraisingam ◽  
Lynn Riddell ◽  
Kay Cook ◽  
Mark Lawrence
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Nutrition Policy ◽  
Future Application ◽  
Freedom Of Information ◽  
Public Health Nutrition ◽  
Policy Document ◽  
Dietary Adequacy ◽  
Nutrition Policies ◽  
Key Stakeholders

AbstractObjectiveNutrient Reference Values (NRV) are evidence-based benchmarks for assessing the dietary adequacy of individuals and population groups as well as informing public health nutrition policies and programmes. The present paper presents the findings of an analysis of the views of submitters to a draft document associated with the development of the 2006 NRV for Australia and New Zealand. The aim of the study was to explore how these views were reflected in the policy-making process and final policy document.DesignThe information necessary to fulfil this aim required access to stakeholder submissions to the NRV development process and this necessitated exploiting the provisions of the Commonwealth of Australia’s Freedom of Information (FOI) Act 1982. We understand that the present research represents the first time that an FOI request seeking information about a National Health and Medical Research Council food and nutrition policy process has been made and therefore is novel in its approach to public health nutrition policy analysis.ResultsThe analysis of stakeholder submissions identified that stakeholders had particular concerns about the conduct of the review process and the future application of the nutrient values to policy and programmes. There is a lack of evidence that the majority of stakeholder comments were addressed in the final NRV document.ConclusionAlthough these findings cannot be interpreted to assess the validity or otherwise of the set nutrient values, they do raise questions about the process for their development and the adequacy of the final document to reflect the views of key stakeholders.

Communicating the Public Health Risks of Climate Change

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melinda R. Weathers ◽  
Edward Maibach ◽  
Matthew Nisbet
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Climate Change ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Public Health Community ◽  
Health Organizations ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
The Public ◽  
Health Community ◽  
Public Health Organizations ◽  
Health And Well Being

Effective public communication and engagement have played important roles in ameliorating and managing a wide range of public health problems including tobacco and substance use, cardiovascular disease, HIV/AIDS, vaccine preventable diseases, sudden infant death syndrome, and automobile injuries and fatalities. The public health community must harness what has been learned about effective public communication to alert and engage the public and policy makers about the health threats of climate change. This need is driven by three main factors. First, people’s health is already being harmed by climate change, and the magnitude of this harm is almost certain to get much worse if effective actions are not soon taken to limit climate change and to help communities successfully adapt to unavoidable changes in their climate. Therefore, public health organizations and professionals have a responsibility to inform communities about these risks and how they can be averted. Second, historically, climate change public engagement efforts have focused primarily on the environmental dimensions of the threat. These efforts have mobilized an important but still relatively narrow range of the public and policy makers. In contrast, the public health community holds the potential to engage a broader range of people, thereby enhancing climate change understanding and decision-making capacity among members of the public, the business community, and government officials. Third, many of the actions that slow or prevent climate change, and that protect human health from the harms associated with climate change, also benefit health and well-being in ways unrelated to climate change. These “cobenefits” to societal action on climate change include reduced air and water pollution, increased physical activity and decreased obesity, reduced motor-vehicle–related injuries and death, increased social capital in and connections across communities, and reduced levels of depression. Therefore, from a public health perspective, actions taken to address climate change are a “win-win” in that in addition to responsibly addressing climate change, they can help improve public health and well-being in other ways as well. Over the past half decade, U.S.-based researchers have been investigating the factors that shape public views about the health risks associated with climate change, the communication strategies that motivate support for actions to reduce these risks, and the practical implications for public health organizations and professionals who seek to effectively engage individuals and their communities. This research serves as a model for similar work that can be conducted across country settings and international publics. Until only recently, the voices of public health experts have been largely absent from the public dialogue on climate change, a dialogue that is often erroneously framed as an “economy versus the environment” debate. Introducing the public health voice into the public dialogue can help communities see the issue in a new light, motivating and promoting more thoughtful decision making.

scholarly journals Using political science to progress public health nutrition: a systematic review

2015 ◽  
Vol 19 (11) ◽  
pp. 2070-2078 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine Cullerton ◽  
Timothy Donnet ◽  
Amanda Lee ◽  
Danielle Gallegos
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Political Science ◽  
Policy Process ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Nutrition Policy ◽  
High Income ◽  
Basic Knowledge ◽  
Process Theory ◽  
Public Health Nutrition ◽  
Policy Making Process

AbstractObjectivePoor dietary intake is the most important behavioural risk factor affecting health globally. Despite this, there has been little investment in public health nutrition policy actions. Policy process theories from the field of political science can aid understanding why policy decisions have occurred and identify how to influence ongoing or future initiatives. The present review aims to examine public health nutrition policy literature and identify whether a policy process theory has been used to analyse the process.DesignElectronic databases were searched systematically for studies examining policy making in public health nutrition in high-income, democratic countries.SettingInternational, national, state and local government jurisdictions within high-income, democratic countries.SubjectsIndividuals and organisations involved in the nutrition policy-making process.ResultsSixty-three studies met the eligibility criteria, most were conducted in the USA and a majority focused on obesity. The analysis demonstrates an accelerating trend in the number of nutrition policy papers published annually and an increase in the diversity of nutrition topics examined. The use of policy process theory was observed from 2003; however, it was utilised by only 14 % of the reviewed papers.ConclusionsThere is limited research into the nutrition policy process in high-income countries. While there has been a small increase in the use of policy process theory from 2003, an opportunity to expand its use is evident. We suggest that nutrition policy making would benefit from a pragmatic approach that ensures those trying to influence or understand the policy-making process are equipped with basic knowledge around these theories.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document