A look at food-related policies across Europe
Researchers supported by the EU-funded CoDiet project recently conducted a study on different policies implemented to improve diets in Estonia, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Slovenia and Finland. The study analysed the extent to which the implementation of food-related policies in these six European countries could help reduce non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and the approaches the countries have adopted to monitor policy impacts. Unhealthy diets high in saturated fat, salt and sugar (HFSS) and deficient in fruits, vegetables and whole grains play a key role in the development of NCDs, including diabetes, cardiovascular and chronic respiratory diseases, mental and neurological disorders, and cancer. These diseases account for 80 % of the EU’s disease burden and are the leading cause of avoidable premature deaths. However, unhealthy eating is not just an individual choice. People with a lower socio-economic status usually have reduced access to affordable healthy foods and policies. For example, increased taxations often hit them the hardest, perpetuating their consumption of cheaper unhealthy foods. The CoDiet report discusses the extent to which the design and implementation of different policies regarding food composition, marketing restrictions to children, food product labelling and taxation address the dietary dimensions most closely linked with NCDs. It also analyses the policy monitoring and evaluation practices implemented in the selected European countries, and how these are linked to health inequalities. Franco Sassi, a professor at CoDiet project partner Imperial College London, reports on the study’s conclusions: “We found that the majority of policies are still not mandatory and many of them are not monitored frequently, making it hard to evaluate the impact of these regulations. However, we did find the most promise of impact was shown in policies targeting composition of HFSS foods, taxation of sugar-sweetened beverages, provision of meals in schools and restriction of marketing to children.” The study builds on policy benchmarking carried out in the Horizon 2020 Science and Technology in Childhood Obesity (STOP) and Policy Evaluation Network (PEN) projects. It also utilises the Health Food Environment Policy Index (Food-EPI), which was developed to assess food policy and infrastructure support across 11 European countries between 2019 and 2021. In this study, the Food-EPI was used to evaluate the few additional policies implemented by the study’s six selected countries.
What comes next
Next on the CoDiet (COMBATTING DIET RELATED NON-COMMUNICABLE DISEASE THROUGH ENHANCED SURVEILLANCE) agenda is to further evaluate the most promising policies and to model their impact on dietary outcomes and health inequalities. The research team will conduct in-depth interviews with stakeholders from the six countries and study how policies promoting salt reduction, sugary beverage taxation, marketing restrictions and school food provisions affect population diets. “Our goal is to provide policymakers with compelling evidence on the potential of key interventions to improve population diets and reduce health inequities,” states Stefanie Vandevijvere of project partner Sciensano in Brussels. “By closely evaluating these policies and engaging with relevant stakeholders, we aim to develop concrete and targeted recommendations that not only improve population nutrition but also narrow the gaps in health inequalities across countries.” For more information, please see: CoDiet project website
Keywords
CoDiet, food, diet, dietary, policy, non-communicable disease, saturated fat, salt, sugar, health inequalities
