Objective: To pilot a global policy scan assessing how governments worldwide regulate weight-loss supplements (WLS). Design: Experts on WLS policies from 30 countries that varied by World Bank income classification, with five from each of the six World Health Organization regions, completed an online survey on WLS regulation in their country. The survey covered six domains: legal frameworks; pre-market requirements; claims, labeling, and advertisements; product availability; adverse events reporting; and monitoring and enforcement. Percentages were calculated for presence or absence of a type of regulation. Setting: Experts were recruited through websites of regulatory bodies and professional LinkedIn networks and scientific article searches on Google Scholar. Participants: 30 experts, one from each country (i.e., researchers, regulators, other experts in food and drug regulation). Results: WLS regulations varied widely across countries and a number of gaps were identified. One country (Nigeria) has a minimum legal age to purchase WLS. Thirteen countries reported independently evaluating the safety of a new WLS product sample. Two countries have limitations on where WLS can be sold. In 11 countries, reports on adverse events related to WLS are publicly available. In 18 countries, safety of new WLS is to be established through scientific criteria. Penalties for WLS non-compliance with pre-market regulations exist in 12 countries and labeling requirements in 16 countries. Conclusions: Results of this pilot study document wide variability in national WLS regulations globally, exposing many gaps in important components of consumer protection regulatory frameworks for WLS, which likely put consumer health at risk.
Objective: Strategic storytelling can be used to reframe dominant cultural narratives and improve community health outcomes. This pilot study assessed the impact of an original, online 3-week e-course, delivered from November to December 2021, in increasing learners’ knowledge of and concern for the seriousness of skin-shade discrimination and the use of skin-lightening products in India, increasing learners’ understanding of storytelling-based communication techniques for public health promotion, and increasing learners’ intentions to use strategic storytelling for social change. Design, Setting and Method: The course used case-method pedagogy to address colourism and cosmetic skin lightening. Learners ( N = 25) completed a pre-course baseline survey on their knowledge and concerns regarding colourism and the use of skin-lightening products, as well as their expectations and interests in taking the course. Following course completion, learners completed a post-webinar survey. The Wilcoxon Signed-Rank test was used to assess differences from pre- to post-course surveys on quantitative items. Open-ended responses were also analysed using qualitative content analysis for recurring themes on learner interest and experience. Results: From pre- to post-course surveys, there were significant improvements in learners’ knowledge of skin shade discrimination and the use of skin-lightening products ( p < .05). Learners indicated being more concerned about the seriousness of skin shade discrimination post-course compared to pre-course. Learners also described a positive learning experience and indicated that the e-course enhanced their understanding of strategic storytelling. Conclusion: Findings highlight the importance of an original e-course that uses case-method pedagogy to build knowledge and skills that addresses the impacts of colourism on the health of Indian adolescents and provides new directions for future research on health education interventions that aim to tackle colourism.
Climate change is one of the greatest threats to human health in the 21st century with its effects that worsen existing illnesses and create new public health challenges. Global carbon emissions from fossil fuels are the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions and are by far the largest contributor to climate change. By shifting toward renewable energy, we can not only cut emissions, but also promote a more sustainable and healthy future. This study experimentally investigates the impact of providing imagine-self and imagine-other perspective-taking message conditions on individuals’ support for renewables policy support as a function of one’s gender and value orientations. Our findings, from 364 US-based individuals, show that different perspective-taking messages interact with hedonic values on renewable energy policy support and that the effect is gender-dependent. Across the board, we found that the imagine-other perspective-taking condition was a significant predictor for renewables policy support and that women with lower hedonic values were more likely to support policy for renewable energy when asked to imagine another in distress (imagine-other) as opposed to imagining themselves in the shoes of another in distress (imagine-self) and the no perspective-taking control. These findings conclude policymakers and communicators need to keep the greater audience of their message in mind when discussing renewables as there is no “one-size-fits-all” approach that resonates with all groups for communicating climate-related messaging to promote renewables policy for public health.
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